Fighting Fraud
By Better Business Bureau Serving Greater Cleveland
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we shop. For both safety and convenience reasons, much of shopping has moved online. However, scammers are intent on taking advantage of our increased online presence with holiday shopping, stealing your money and your personal info.
With 75% of consumers saying they’ll do at least some of their holiday shopping online and the National Retail Federation calculating the average consumer spends just under $1,000 on gifts during the holiday season, that creates a lot of opportunities for compromised personal information and lost money.
The following tips will help you shop online this holiday season, so you can achieve maximum savings while keeping your personal information and hard-earned money secure:
- Beware of false advertising and phony websites. If a company is selling the hottest item of the year at a price that seems too good to be true, it probably is. Watch out for false advertising and keep a close eye on the web address in your browser. Scammers love to create lookalike websites that, at first glance, appear to belong to a trusted retailer.
- Shop with trustworthy sellers on secure sites only. Be wary of businesses you aren’t familiar with. Check their BBB Business Profile on BBB.org, look at the rating, and read customer reviews. In addition, be sure any web page you purchase from is secure. Secure web addresses begin with HTTPS:// and not just HTTP://.
- Keep your antivirus software up to date. Make sure you have antivirus software installed on your computer or mobile device, and that it is up to date. This will help you to avoid non-secure websites and pop-up phishing scams and help keep your personal information safe.
- Use your credit card. It’s always best to make online purchases with your credit card. If any shady charges turn up later, you will be able to contest them through your credit card company. Debit cards don’t offer this same protection. Never make purchases with online sellers by giving them prepaid debit cards or wiring them money.
Questions? Reach out to your BBB at 216.413.5232 or email [email protected]. For more news and tips visit BBB.org.
