Buying Christmas presents online can be an attractive option but it can also be fraught with danger if you click on the wrong thing.
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Scammers are a standard risk of shopping on the internet but over Christmas, the threat grows even larger as people spend more.
The advice from the Department of Fair Trading is to only buy online from reputable stores and avoid anything that seems unusual or too cheap.
Unfortunately the risks don’t end there. Some scammers are also targeting the delivery end of the shopping process.
They send out an email that looks like it is from Australia Post or a courier company asking the recipient to open an attachment, which will then download a virus.
Others claim a parcel is undeliverable and ask you to pay a fee, effectively claiming to hold a package ransom until you to pay a fee.
The reality is the person who sent the email doesn’t even know if the recipient ordered anything online but cast a net wide enough and somebody will get caught out.
It is one of the downsides of the digital world. There is always someone looking to make a dishonest dollar and they put in enough effort that it can be quite convincing.
The less experienced someone is online, the greater at risk they can be if they aren’t wary.
Online scamming is one of the growing examples of fraud in Australia and a large percentages of scams are run from overseas.
Encouragingly, the offence isn’t growing in Cowra, according to the latest Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research data but the threat is there.
The safest best is to shop with your local retailer. Some even give you the option to shop online.
So while doing the last of the Christmas shopping, pay extra attention.
Delete any suspicious emails or contact a company or business directly by phone if you have concerns with an email that claims to be from them.
And guard your information closely, don’t hand it out unless you are sure it will be safe.
Keep a close eye on credit card statements and some people recommend having one card with a small limit that can be used for online shopping.
A bit of extra caution can ensure there are no nasty surprises to ruin the festive spirit this Christmas.
