How to Keep Safe and Efficient During Black Friday
Today is Thanksgiving and the majority of US residents will be going through the customary means of connecting with family and friends; to engage in the time honored tradition of stuffing themselves with turkey and many glorious side dishes. Stories will be shared, bonds will be created and in many cases thanks will be made.
Tomorrow will bring about new pleasures, many of you will venture off into the crowds in search of the unbelievable deals that have been baited to you all week. You will stand in line for hours, you will battle with fellow shoppers and you will spend in excess – all the while fueled off the buzz of getting the greatest deals.
Many of us will by pass this hassle and forgo the brick and mortal nuisances for the solitary engagements of our computers. And why not, there will be no crowds to deal with, there will be no hardcore shoppers to battle with and most importantly there will be no endless lines to stand in.
But how does one know if they are being safe online, especially if you are new to this experience? Normally when you surf the net and find a deal that is to good to be true, you pass it up and file it into your mental “this is scam box”. But times will be different tomorrow – the crazy deals will be out there and so will the scammers.
Sound how do you stay safe why maintaining an edge of efficiency?
1. Stay Branded - If you want to be safe stick to the big guys such as Apple, Overstock.com, Best Buy, Amazon etc. If you are unsure about a particular website don’t purchase from them until you have validated them through other means. Check seller reviews on third party’s such sites as Resellerrating.com, Shopping.Yahoo.com and Google Products.
2. Do Your Research Today – Use the social networks such as Twitter and Facebook to find deals – as well as comparative sites such as Nextag and Epinions. This way you have ample time to research competitors, find the best deals and most importantly find the legitimate sellers.
3. Put together a list – After you have completed your research why not plan your attack; many websites will have outstanding deals but many of them will also be in limited supply. Creating a list will ensure you tackle your objectives in an orderly fashion to have greater successful outcomes.
4. Check your URLs – Before you input your personal information into a web form, check the address first to be sure it is secure. If have ventured from the big brands and are somewhat certain the site you are on is safe – double check by looking at the URL in the browser to ensure it has an ‘https’ at the beginning instead on an ‘http’ . Website’s that pass information via ‘http’ are not secure and this greatly enhances your risk having your personal information stolen.
5. Avoid Links in Emails- With the holiday season comes the advent of huge quantities of spam and phishing schemes- designed specifically to take your hard earned cash. Many of these scams work by having the user click on a link in an official looking email , that takes you to a legitimate looking website.
Don’t fall for this! If you get an email from Best Buy- type the best buy address into your website browser manually – ensuring that the URL has the domain name bestbuy.com in it. Once you are there navigate around the site a bit to be sure that you are in the correct place. Many phishing sites only have a couple legitimate looking pages – if you are on a false site you should be able to notice this rather quickly.
Be Safe and Happy Holidays to all of you!!
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Thank you for the quick tips, I am always nervous about ordering online.