Editorial: Safer holiday shopping
We Americans are brave, or optimistic, or maybe just tired of bad news about the economy. As the holiday shopping season geared up, those who study such trends were surprised to see that, despite worries about inflation and warnings of a possible recession, shoppers appeared on course to spend billions of dollars on gifts and other holiday indulgences.
Analysts also say that an increasing share of that shopping will be conducted online — on
computers and, more than ever, on mobile phones. Shopping online on Black Friday was at a record high of more than $9 billion. Cyber Monday was even bigger. Part of the explanation for the high figures may be that prices have gone up, but sales also increased.
All that means that we need to be increasingly wary. The security of online purchases and e-commerce is generally strong, especially if you stick to familiar sellers. But there are also plenty of bad guys lurking in cyberspace. More people buying online means more people potentially exposing themselves to online scams.
Shopping on a laptop or a phone app may seem a lot easier than getting dressed, braving traffic and going from store to store in hopes of finding what you want. Don’t let that lull you into making costly mistakes.
There are plenty of online resources offering advice about how to protect yourself from scams and theft of personal and financial information: the Virginia attorney general’s office, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency within the federal Department of Homeland Security, and AARP, to name a few.
Most of them give similar advice, practices that should be routine procedure. You’ve heard most of this before: change passwords frequently; don’t use the same password on multiple sites; don’t choose passwords that would be easy to guess; be conscientious about doing all those system updates on your devices; and be wary of storing financial information on websites. Don’t click on attachments or links in unfamiliar emails. Try to avoid using debit cards for shopping; credit cards offer more protections.
There are other tips that can help make shopping safer. That coffee shop may be comfortable, but resist shopping when you’re on public WiFi. Stick with online merchants you’ve dealt with safely before. If you must try a new one, make sure there’s a little padlock icon in the browser URL bar.
One good piece of advice you’ll see repeatedly: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Any deal that seems unbelievably sweet calls for extra caution. That’s especially true of unsolicited email offers. Don’t fall for emails that appear to be from your bank or anyone else asking you to give or verify personal or financial information. If in doubt, make a phone call.
If you shop at a new store online, check it out on the Better Business Bureau’s website and search for reviews online.
If you’re trying to shop online and find yourself talking to someone, be cautious. Don’t give out private information or let someone who claims to be a technician have remote access to your computer unless you’ve made sure they are legitimate.
There are also potential pitfalls that aren’t scams. A trend this year, in person and online, is a spike in “buy now, pay later” deals — as much as an 80% increase. Sellers are offering them more, and buyers are taking the bait, especially for big-ticket purchases. Buy now, pay later can seem attractive to those who don’t want to run up their credit-card debt — or who may have maxed out their credit limit. Often the deals require no credit check, and some let the buyer pay in a few installments with little or no interest. But before relying too heavily on this option, it’s good to remember that “later” will be here before we know it.
Enjoy the holidays, including shopping and giving gifts. But don’t get too caught up in the frenzy. It’s the season to be merry — and smart.
