If you plan to shop on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, remember, shoppers are more vulnerable than ever to fake websites, data theft and “too-good-to-be-true” deals.
PHOENIX — Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just around the corner, enticing shoppers with out-of-this-world, unbelievable deals—and some that may truly be “too good to be true.”
While it’s an exciting time to score some great deals ahead of the holiday shopping rush, at the same time, with those two big shopping days expected to bring record online spending, it’s also a time we hear about a surge of digital scams.
Predictions show 21% of consumers plan to do their holiday shopping over Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year, while 47% started their holiday shopping before November, and only 3% plan to make purchases a week before Christmas.
Holiday shopping is mostly stressful for Ester Wilding. She likes to shop early.
“I try to get my gifts, if I can, throughout the year and then save them instead of getting into the rush of the Black Friday,” she said.
But if you do plan to tackle your shopping list over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, keep in mind, shoppers are more vulnerable than ever to fake websites, data theft, and deceptive “too-good-to-be-true” deals.
“People are distracted… and so they’re not being as cautious as they normally are,” said Rachel Caballero with TruWest Credit Union. “They’re using public Wi-Fi to just pick something up real quick… they’re using the links through social media.”
She told 12News it can happen to anyone; in fact, it happened to her.
“I clicked on a Facebook link for crab legs, king crab legs… it was a too-good-to-be-true deal,” said Caballero. “I went on… I did it, and what ended up coming was a cheap smart watch, so yeah, a lot of these links that are coming up–they’re not even to real products. They’re not to real websites, or they’re selling items that are not theirs.”
Luckily, she was able to work with the company.
“I actually got my money back,” she said.
Caballero said there are some simple things you can do to protect yourself.
“Don’t follow any links that are on social media or in an email,” she said. “Go to Google… look it up directly.”
When you’re shopping online, she says you should make sure there’s an ‘s’ in the https web address.
“It does mean that they’re going to protect your information more,” said Caballero.
She says it’s best if you use a credit card for your purchases instead of a debit card.
“With a credit card you get fraud protection added into it,” she said.
Avoid making purchases on a public Wi-Fi and keep your software security up to date.
“You might have to clean out all your pictures and offload your apps to do it, but it’s very important,” she said.
For Ester – she has a helpful strategy.
“Don’t shop around this time,” she said. “That’s my tip… my honest tip.”
As always, if you have any money-saving topics you would like us to look into, email us at money@12news.com.
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