Definitely not a Holiday Scam
December 13, 2021
Deck the halls with the lists of gifts to get. It’s that time of year again, where gift buying is at large. And with the pandemic, many shoppers are switching to virtual browsing to find their gifts. Although yes, this does add some ease and simplicity to the holiday shopping spree, it also poses a huge risk for scams. Although about 70% of students in a poll on whether they would buy a great, but sketchy-looking deal or not responded with “Being cautious.” Although this is good common sense, not to buy from sketchy sites, we sometimes tend to get wrapped up in the rush and become desperate to find a gift. Here are a few key tips to make sure you don’t end up down cash and presents this holiday season
- Ads: Ads, Ads, Ads. Always getting in the way of your video, music, or news article. Many companies use ads more around holidays. According to Eric Samson, advertisements increase by 50% with festive themes. Thi gives phony sites a chance to pop up too. Don’t use ads as your way to find items, and when shopping on sites like Amazon, make sure the item you’re about to click does not have “Sponsored” or “Ad” by it.
- Sender: More focused on people who use eBay or Amazon, always check who your provider is. On Amazon, look for the seller and shipper and try to find a present that is at least shipped by Amazon. This ensures that it is Amazon’s responsibility to deliver and not a 3rd party company. It also makes returns and refunds easier.
- Reviews: Photos are a great way to tell what a product looks like, but reading reviews gives you some more insight. Look at the overall ratings and dig into the more critical reviews. Badly rated products tend to have more flashy advertisements and product descriptions. Consult others who’ve gotten the product already for their opinions first.
There are many more scam formats and “rules” to follow than just these, such as THESE provided by the Better Business Bureau, but hopefully these give you some small insight on how to keep your money and identity safe during your Christmas shopping.
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