Holiday shopping scams to look out for

Avoid these common online scams for a safe holiday shopping experience

During the holiday shopping season, shoppers cheer, "We're going to save big bucks!" But what they may not realize is bad guys are cheering, "We're going to make big bucks." Yup, that darn Grinch is always lurking especially during festive times. How can you make sure your shopping experience is merry and bright? Don't get ripped off by these common scams, risks and red flags:

Gift card scams
This is a huge problem consumer watchdogs are hearing a lot about lately! Michael Gier from Protect Yourself TV warns: Only buy gift cards from the stores themselves, do not ever buy from an individual selling them because they're usually stolen empty gift cards that were never activated at the register.

If you're purchasing at the store, buy gift cards that people don't have access to. Do not buy from the grab-and-go racks at stores. Thieves can scan the cards on the racks and get the codes on the back of the cards. Then when you pay and get the card activated, they now have a way to use it and spend the money on it.

Keep an eye out for scams

Email shopping schemes
An email from your favorite store just popped up in your inbox that says 75% off today only. Should you click on it? Joe Reynolds, product manager for Identity Fraud at Travelers Insurance, says no.

"Delete, without replying to, any suspicious email requests. Hackers and spammers often impersonate retailers to lure personal financial information. If there is any reason to doubt the authenticity of an email message from a company you do business with, don't click on links or buttons in the message. Instead, type the Internet address of the company into your browser, log on as you usually do, and examine your account information. You can also always call a company to ask if an email is legitimate."

Joe reminds you to also log off completely when you're finished with online transactions. "Closing or minimizing your browser or typing a new Web address may not be enough to prevent others from accessing your online information. Instead, click 'log off' to terminate your online session. In addition, don't allow your browser to 'remember' your username and password information."

Unsecured websites
You've been looking for that camel colored scarf for your sister for a month. When it pops up on a shopping search engine for a good price, you're overjoyed. But before you whip out your credit card and start typing away, Joyce Hsu from Reseller Ratings says make sure you haven't been lured to an unsecured website. "When you are ready to buy, never buy from a store that does not use SSL on the credit card page. SSL is a protocol that was created to transmit private information on the Internet by encrypting data on the public side as well as a secret key only known by the recipient. Sites that have a SSL connection generally start with 'https' instead of 'http', and your web browser often displays a 'lock' symbol. This will help ensure that your information is not being transmitted over the Internet."

And of course, common sense precaution: Never give out info that's just not necessary for you to order that scarf or any gift! The online store should not need your Social Security number, birth date or gender. If one asks you for that — that's a red flag bigger than Santa's red suit!

This article was written by Mary Schwager and originally appeared on GalTime.

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Reports say 'Cyber Monday' top online shopping day

NEW YORK (AP) — Online shoppers spent record amounts on the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, making it the biggest online shopping day in history.

Online sales rose 22 percent to $1.25 billion on "Cyber Monday," when retailers ramp up online promotions, according to research firm comScore Inc. That makes it the biggest online shopping day ever, the research firm said. A year ago, "Cyber Monday" sales topped $1 billion for the first time

IBM Benchmark, another company that tracks online sales, reported a 33 percent rise. The average order rose 2.6 percent to $193.24 this year, according to IBM Benchmark. It didn't give total dollar sales numbers for comparison. The company said about 80 percent of retailers offered online deals.

The Cyber Monday numbers point to Americans' growing comfort with using their personal computers, tablets and smartphones to shop.

Over the past few years, big chains like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, have offered more and better incentives, like hourly deals and free shipping, to capitalize on that trend. It's important for retailers to make a good showing during the holiday shopping season, a time when they can make up to 40 percent of their annual revenue.

"Retailers that adopted a smarter approach to commerce, one that allowed them to swiftly adjust to the shifting shopping habits of their customers, whether in-store, online or via their mobile device, were able to fully benefit from this day and the entire holiday weekend, said John Squire, chief strategy officer, IBM Smarter Commerce.

About 6.6 percent of online shoppers used a mobile device to shop, up from 2.3 percent last year. Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPad were the top mobile devices for retail traffic, with Android devices coming in third.

Web traffic rose 28 percent on Monday, according to another firm, online content-delivery firm Akamai. The peak was at 9 p.m. Eastern when shoppers across the country were online.

The numbers echo a strong shopper showing in brick-and-mortar stores over the holiday weekend. A record 226 million shoppers visited stores and websites during the four-day holiday weekend starting on Thanksgiving Day, up from 212 million last year, according to the National Retail Federation trade group. And sales on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, rose 7 percent to $11.4 billion, the largest amount ever spent, according to ShopperTrak, which gathers stores' data.

A clearer picture of how holiday sales are shaping up will come on Thursday, when major retailers report November sales.

The term "Cyber Monday" was coined in 2005 by The National Retail Federation to encourage Americans to shop online on the Monday after Thanksgiving. It is not always the busiest online shopping day, but in recent years sales on the day have increased as retailers offer more deals specifically for Cyber Monday.

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