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Avoid Holiday Crowds, Hassle and Uncover Secrets
for Safe, Easy Online Shopping
(NAPSI)-The
holidays are traditionally a hectic time with parties, travel, family
get-togethers and of course shopping. If year after year you struggle
to find the perfect gifts for loved ones and dread fighting the holiday
shopping crowds, you're not alone. More and more people who are pressed
for time during the holidays find a friend in the Internet. It enables
people to take advantage of any spare time they may have, whether it's
using their brief lunch hours to shop conveniently from their desks or
in the late evening at home.
Holiday shopping online is gaining
popularity. More than half of Americans shop on the Internet for gifts
during this frenzied time. According to a Jupiter Research survey of
holiday online shoppers, people shop via computer to save time, shop
when stores are normally closed, avoid holiday crowds and find better
prices. Many online destinations, such as eBay, are the perfect place
to locate unique or hard-to-find gifts that just aren't available in
your local stores.
There are many time-saving secrets to help find
the best prices online, including:
•
Compare: A number of sites, such as www.shopping.com, enable you to
compare prices from a variety of online stores, saving you the time and
fuel expense of driving from store to store.
• Shipping: Look for merchants that offer free
shipping to stretch your holiday gift budget even further.
•
Wrap it up: Take advantage of the gift-wrapping services offered by
many online merchants. They will save you time at home when you're
rushing to finish your last-minute gifts.
During the holiday season, though, be aware of
grinches out there who are eager to take advantage of all the hustle
and bustle.
One
practice to be cautious of is "phishing." Most commonly, "phishing"
comes in the form of imposter e-mails soliciting such personal
information as Social Security numbers, user passwords and IDs, and
credit card numbers. Fortunately, watch-dog groups and companies are
looking out for consumers to fight these types of ploys and encourage
people to protect themselves.
Dave Jevans, chairman for The
Anti-Phishing Working Group, an association focused on eliminating the
problem of phishing and email spoofing attacks, advises consumers to be
suspicious of any e-mail with urgent requests for confidential
information. He recommends that shoppers avoid emails that threatens to
close a customers' account if they don't respond immediately and
includes links that take you to a Web page.
"While an e-mail
may appear to come from a reliable merchant or Internet company, its
source can easily be disguised," Jevans explains. "Links in the e-mail
may actually take you to a fraudulent Web site where personal
information can be gathered."
When shopping on the Internet,
exercise the same caution you would when shopping in a store, says Rob
Chesnut, vice president for Trust & Safety for eBay, known as the
world's online marketplace. He recommends these safeguards:
• Learn as much as possible about the product and
seller.
• Understand the retailer's refund policies.
• Choose a secure password to protect account
information.
•
Use a safe checkout and payment process, like PayPal, which is the only
way to pay without a merchant seeing your credit card details.
• Remember that, if an offer sounds highly
suspicious or too good to be true, it probably is.
By
shopping safely, it's easy to enjoy the convenience and bargains found
online without the anxiety of traditional holiday shopping. For more
resources about staying safe online visit www.paypal.com/idprotection
or www.antiphishing.org.
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