‘Tis the season for holiday fraud. If you’re shopping online this holiday season, be on the lookout for scammers trying to steal a deal too. Scammers often use unorthodox methods to steal your money and personal information. Keep your holiday merry by following our Top 10 Ways to Avoid Holiday Fraud:

1. Holiday bargains will increase online shopping. Don’t send money to someone you don’t know. If the deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.
2. When shopping from your mobile device, make sure to use a secured WIFI connection and look for https in the web address to ensure a secured payment page.
3. Holidays are a time for giving, but don’t fall for high pressure requests. Unfortunately, some scammers pose as charities asking for a donation. Check out the charity first at give.org.
4. Email activity increases during the holidays too. Be cautious of suspicious links and attachments from unknown senders. Misspellings and grammar mistakes are red flags the email is a scam.
5. Create strong passwords for retail websites. Add numbers and symbols to your password and never use the same password for multiple sites.
6. Monitor your accounts for suspicious activity. Thieves will often test your account to validate if it is active by making a small purchase. If the small purchase is successful, large purchases will follow.
7. Purchase gift cards directly from the retailer and not third party sites to ensure they are valid.
8. Traveling for the holidays? Make sure the flight is genuine by researching it thoroughly and consider checking out travel agents for added assurance.
9. When purchasing from an auction website—like Ebay—make your payment via insured methods like PayPal. Never make a bank transfer to people you don’t know and do your research to authenticate the product and seller.
10. Final tip—do your research regarding return policies, read the fine print and keep receipts for proof of purchase.