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Fraud Tip of the Day - December 3

Online Holiday Shopping Tips

Our online Holiday shopping tips are intended to help consumers avoid many of the scams and pitfalls awaiting the unwary as they purchase gifts online

Millions of people will shop online during this year's busy Holiday shopping season. There are many advantages to purchasing your Christmas gifts from online retailers. There are no lines, parking is not a problem, stores on the web never close, gifts can be shipped directly to your loved ones and in many instances you can save a bundle on sales tax. For these and other reasons experts are predicting record online sales. You can be sure that criminals want a piece of the action. They count on your lack of knowledge and savvy to trick you into divulging your personal information or making payments for gifts that will never make it to their intended destinations. We hope that you use our online shopping tips and have a safe and joyous Holiday season!

Investigate the seller.

If you're thinking about making a purchase from a site you're unfamiliar with do some research before you make payment. You don't need to hire a private investigator but do your due diligence before shelling out your hard-earned money.

Find a phone number on their site and call them to make sure they are who they say they are. If no one answers or you detect anything suspicious, don't purchase anything from them. There are plenty of other retailers that provide good customer service.
Search the web for the website's name to see if there are any negative comments floating around out there. If people have bad experiences with a retailer there are bound to be websites, reviews, forums and blog postings detailing their experiences. Depending on how much negative "chatter" you uncover you might want to find a different seller.
Check out the retailer's privacy policy. I don't give my business to retailers willing to sell my personal data.

Make sure transaction data is encrypted.

If you're going through the checout process, be on the lookout for the lock icon that indicates whether a site is secure. This lock means that data sent to the site is encrypted. This is absolutely necessary when you are sending your credit card number across the web. Another indication that your data will be encrypted are URLs beginning with https:// instead of the usual http:// most web adresses have. If either the lock or the "s" is missing from the payment page consider another means of payment or take your business to a retailer concerned about the safety of your personal information.

Make sure your computer is secure.

By secure we mean that you should be using a firewall, anti-virus and spyware blockers and that these programs should be up-to-date with all the latest virus and spyware definitions. Without these you shouldn't even be browsing the web much less making online purchases. Many of these security programs are free and they are relatively easy to install and use. If you aren't using them now, please take a few minutes to download and install them.

Maintain records of your transactions.

Once you've made a purchase, make sure you print the final page or invoice and keep it handy in case anything goes wrong. Printing the details of items purchased could also come in handy if there's any dispute over your purchase. You should also keep a watchful eye on your credit card statements for unauthorized charges. The faster these are detected, the easier they are to resolve.