How to Protect Yourself from Holiday Shopping Scams


Online scams cost Americans nearly $7 billion throughout 2021, according to the FBI, and with the holiday shopping season ramping up, it's vital that people understand how to avoid falling victim to scams.

"Scams often increase with consumer spending, making the holidays ripe for scammers trying to take advantage of the season's sense of urgency and scarcity," said Amy Maliga, a financial educator with Take Charge America, a nonprofit credit counseling and debt management agency. "It's not enough to be aware of scams, though. You have to learn how to watch for and avoid them so your happy holidays don't turn into a nightmare."

Maliga shares several things to do and watch out for to avoid falling prey to holiday shopping scams:

• Use secure payment methods: Be wary of websites or sellers that request unusual payment methods like wire transfers, cashier's checks or apps.

• Stick to secure payment options such as major credit cards or PayPal.

• Check for site security: Look for 'https' at the front of the site's URL and the small lock icon in the browser window. These indicate that the website is secure, ensuring any data you share (such as credit card numbers or shipping details) will be encrypted when you submit it.

• Watch for spelling and grammatical errors: If you notice a plethora of spelling and grammar mistakes on a website, social media posts or other promotional materials, you likely want to shop elsewhere.

• Pay attention to reviews: Reviews can reveal much about online retailers and sellers. Are there lots of poor reviews from buyers who didn't receive what they purchased? Or are there numerous glowing reviews that all read alike? Either may indicate the site isn't what it claims to be.

• Watch for 'phishy' confirmation emails: If you receive a confirmation email for an order you didn't place, ignore and delete it. Knowing people are likely making several orders, scammers will send a phishing email disguised to resemble a confirmation notice from legitimate retailers. If it appears legit, try manually searching the order number on the retailer's website instead of clicking on any included links.

Don't let scammers steal your money or your holiday cheer. If a deal or website appears too good to be true, it likely is.


More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 403, exiting

More Personal Finance Information:

Related Articles


10 Money-Saving Tips
1. If you have your haircut every 3 weeks, trygoing 4 or 5 weeks in between haircuts.
Dramatically Improve Your Stock Trading Success
Get Access to Realistic profitable strategies & discover the mindset to dramatically improve trading success.* Avoid those confusing "cookie cutter" technical analysis tips and tricks that you can read anywhere else for free.
Personal Finance - Why You Should Compare, not Despair
Sorting out your personal finances can be a tricky and exasperating time. Whether you are looking to obtain money through a loan, protect your finances with life insurance, medical, travel or car insurance, save some money through an individual savings account (ISA), apply for a credit card or a mortgage, change a telephone or fuel utility supplier, or simply decide what the best current account is for your needs, the choices are seemingly endless as well as being extremely complicated.
Budgeting Before Buying
With interest rates being at an all-time low, I can understand the urgency for people wanting to purchase a home. But I caution the first-time home buyer to learn how to budget their money before buying a new home.
Save Money on Gas
Gas prices have soared to unimaginable heights of late. Since most of us are not likely to turn to bikes or horse-drawn buggies we will have to learn to get the most from our gas dollars.
Live Green; Save Green!
Have you seen the recent article on a new "green" residential high rise in Battery Park? It's called The Solaire. For a look at the hopeful future of architectural efficiency, check out the myriad of cost saving and environmentally-friendly features of the building:http://www.
Avoiding A Nightmare On Renovation Street
You've decided you want a bigger, better and more desirable house. How do you determine when to renovate, what to do and importantly, how much will it cost and will we get our money back?Unless you're in the building industry, most people are fairly naïve when it comes to making decisions about renovating.
Financing Collectibles for Fun and Profit
With the advent of the internet and especially auction services like those provided by Yahoo and E-bay, serious collectors have much larger arenas in which to buy and sell their wares. This provides the opportunity for quick discovery of hard-to-find items that previously might have taken years to find.
Save Money on your Clothing Budget. Tame the Closet Monster!
Reducing the clothing budget was a serious challenge for me. Two pre-teen girls and a teenage girl certainly didn't make life any easier.
10 Steps To Improve Your Financial Situation
Here are ten steps you can follow to help improve your personal financial situation and inevitably save more money:1. Pay Yourself WeeklyThis may seem a bit odd, but this is an excellent way to start building a substantial savings.
College Expenses: Seven Ways to Save on an Education
Many people graduate from college owing thousands of dollars in student loans. It isn't uncommon for students to graduate owing $30,000 to $40,000.
What Are We Teaching our 2005 Graduates about Money?
Now that we are in the month of June I can't help but wonder if we have prepared our new graduates for the responsibility of managing and budgeting their money.I had a very interesting conversation with my God-son, a recent graduate from a local Los Angeles high school.
How to Choose the Right Bank for Your Online Business
You should thoroughly consider your business needs when selecting a financial institution or bank for your small/home business. You may want to consider the following points:- The types of products and services that are offered.
Budgeting is Bothersome
It doesn't take much for you to get behind on monthly bills, but it sure takes some time to catch up. The comparison in my mind is to weight gain.
Saving Money - The Magic 20 Percent
Saving money is not easy and is made more difficult if you have a short-term outlook regarding your personal finances. If, like many people, you are living from one pay cheque to the next, it is difficult to put some money aside for a rainy day or for a summer holiday.
Top 10+ Ways to Jumpstart your New Year's Finances!
Of course, these don't have to be done in any particular order! Just pick one or two that particularly apply to your situation. * Create your 2005 filing system.
Improve Your Professional Image Using Address Labels
One of the simplest ways to improve your professional image is by using address labels. Self-adhesive business labels are THE way to go when it comes to a professional image.
Help With My Annuity
The cries are heard from the distance, "I need help with my annuities." Nothing has changed.
10 Quick And Cheap Ways To Cut Your Heating Bill
When you received an energy (heating) bill last winter, were you afraid to open it? Granted that we have a home with a lot of really big windows, but we saw energy bills last winter in the hundreds of dollars. Your bill probably wasn't that bad but I'm guessing that it was a lot higher than you would have liked.
The Wright Place - Finances
Women have a love/hate relationship with money. Most of us do not enjoy dealing with it, yet we know not having finances under control will cause our entire family to suffer.