TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Before you hit the shopping malls or start ordering online, take steps to protect yourself from scammers.
The National Cyber Security Alliance estimates consumers will spend $151 billion online this holiday season. That’s why scammers spend so much time preparing to trick you into sending your money to them.
Bryan Oglesby, of the Better Business Bureau, says be careful when shopping online.
“Scammers are going to see this as an opportunity to take advantage of consumers, create fake websites, send out fake email notifications, and just find ways to get people to respond to offers when the their guard is down they’re acting quickly to purchase something online or to respond to an email notification,” Oglesby said.
Oglesby recommends you pay special attention to the format of website.
“The biggest thing is look alike websites,” Oglesby said. “A lot of scammers or bogus businesses are creating websites… you can create websites very easily now adays, and they look like legitimate box store websites. So as a consumer, what we want to do is stop for a minute, look at that url and make sure it’s the right url you intend to go to.
The BBB also recommends that you be careful when clicking on product links from social media pages.
Oglesby says you should also pay close attention to advertisements when shopping in stores.
“This is the time to collect those ads, be a savvy shopper,” Oglesby said. “Do that homework now, look at those advertisements, read that fine print.”