Holidays, Scams & Your Customers

‘Tis the season for festivities, fun and… sadly… fraud. As the holidays get closer, make sure you, your store and your customers are prepared to combat scams and fraud that may be lingering online and in stores.

Scambook, a complaint resolution platform whom’s primary purpose is to give consumers a voice, offers the below advice to help consumers and retailers alike this holiday season:

1. Shop with a Prepaid Debit Card: Prepaid credit cards offer the same anti-fraud protection as regular credit cards and keep users on budget with a limited amount available to spend.

2. Stick to Trusted Sites: If shopping online, consumers should stick to reputable, trustworthy sites. Many “hot holiday deal” websites pop up during the holiday season and may actually be traps that disappear as fast as they appeared. Search for customer reviews on Google and checking Scambook.com for complaints about the site before placing any order.

3. Beware of Too-Good-to-Be-True Deals: Deals that are too-good-to-be-true are a huge red flag, even on big shopping days like Black Friday. Mysterious links to deals that appear through email are also likely a phishing scam and may install viruses on computers.

4. Use a Different Password: Cyber Monday is one of the most important days to diversify your passwords. When asked to create an account to purchase from an online retailer, use a password unique from all other passwords to protect other email and bank accounts.

5. Use a Secure Internet Browser: For those consumers shopping online, Scambook advises using secure browsers such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Users should make sure this is the most up-to-date version along with their computer’s firewall and anti-virus software. AVG or Avira are free anti-virus software proven to protect.

6. Never Open Email Attachments: Consumers are warned to never open links to outside websites or videos from unknown sources, as well as any emails that require personal information even if emails claim to be from sites such as eBay or PayPal.

With safety in mind, retailers are encouraged to respect these precautions that consumers should make. For example, do not send attachments in your emails and don’t debut a new website mid holiday season. You want your customers to shop from you… not be scared off from you.