Holiday shopping safety tips

In 2023, there were over 200 million shoppers during the five-day holiday weekend from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday. If you plan on counting yourself among those millions during the busiest shopping weekend of the year, help protect yourself from accidents or theft with these safety tips.

Safe shopping

From fistfights to identity theft, shopping at Black Friday sales can come with a few safety risks. If you decide to brave the crowds in person, consider these holiday shopping tips:

• Shop with friends or relatives when taking a trip to the store. You may find safety in numbers.
• Keep your purse close to your body and your wallet in an inside coat pocket or a front pants pocket. This may help you avoid thieves who might try to swipe them from your shopping cart or unmonitored back pocket.
• Avoid arguments or fights over an item.
• Refrain from taking your money out until asked and avoid flashing a lot of cash. If possible, opt to use your digital wallet, credit or debit card for your purchases.
• Slip your more expensive purchases into less noticeable bags, perhaps from your less expensive purchases that day.
• Watch over your items while eating in the food court, as they may be easy to steal when people are distracted. Keep your shopping bags close to you and below your table if possible.
• Try to make purchases on just one credit card. Data breaches may occur, especially during busy shopping seasons, and cyberattacks generally increase during Black Friday sales. Should this happen, you can reduce the risk by not having multiple cards compromised..
• Save your receipts and monitor your credit card activity by reviewing your bill immediately or periodically checking your card company's online app.
• Ask for help moving and loading large items if needed.
• Select a central location to meet if you are shopping with children in case you are separated. Teach kids how to ask a security guard or employee for help if they're lost.
• Be aware of exit locations in case an emergency occurs.
  
• Remain alert to your surroundings and try not to be too distracted by your phone or carry an overwhelming number of bags.

How can I be safer in and around the car?

With so many people out and about, you may encounter aggressive drivers on the road. Steer clear of contributing to the problem. Remember to drive defensively and be aware of the signs of road rage in other drivers. Parking lots can be dangerous too, so be on guard:

• Exercise patience when looking for a parking space. Instead of speeding up to catch that empty (or soon-to-be empty) spot, be cautious of other drivers who may be rushing.
• Take extra precautions when maneuvering your vehicle if you live in an area with winter weather conditions.
• Park your vehicle in a well-lit area as close to the store as you can get. Additionally, opt to shop at earlier times to help you avoid dangers that evening darkness may bring.
• Avoid leaving anything valuable in your car.
• Lock your vehicle before you head inside.
• Help yourself avoid getting lost by making a mental note of where you parked and by snapping a quick picture, if possible.
• Keep your keys in hand when walking back to your vehicle, especially if you’re carrying valuable items.
• Look around and under your vehicle as you approach it. If there is a suspicious item on your windshield or your car appears to be tampered with, determine if it is safe to drive to a well-lit location to check it rather than checking right away or call the authorities.
• Store shopping bags out of plain sight, in your trunk if possible.
• Back out slowly while scanning for cars and people.

Holiday cybersecurity tips for online shopping

Opting to shop online on Black Friday or Cyber Monday from your couch? You still may want to be on the lookout for holiday scams and identity theft. To help shop safely, check out these cyber holiday safety tips:

• Choose retailers you know and, preferably, have shopped with before.
• Research a business you haven't purchased from before by checking customer reviews or complaints with the Better Business Bureau.
• Steer clear of deals that seems too good to be true.
• Avoid using a debit card since dispute reimbursements may be less than credit cards.
• Refrain from using public Wi-Fi when making purchases or consider using a VPN to help deter hackers from intercepting your information.
• Check a webpage's security by looking for the lock icon in the URL field, and confirm the URL starts with "https", not just "http." The "s" means the site is likely to be safer and more secure.
• Be cautious of pop-up ads or malicious links that direct you to other sites.
• Be suspicious of sellers that ask you to pay with a wire transfer or gift card, as these are common modes of payment requests used by scammers.
• Monitor your credit card statements for fraudulent purchases so you can cancel your card before a thief can perform too many transactions.
• Track the shipping of your purchases so that your packages aren’t left at your front door for too long. According to Forbes, so-called “porch pirates” stole over 115 million packages, with an estimated worth of $9 billion, in 2023.

Whether you’re shopping online or in-person, or just looking to stay safe during the holidays, consider these precautions to help create a smoother experience. Enjoy the excitement of the holidays and happy shopping!