9 tips to avoid getting scammed over Christmas

As the holidays inch ever closer, Hamilton police are warning the public about frauds and scams as you’re buying gifts or gobbling up Boxing Day savings online.

Here are nine tips that you can use to make sure you’re not a victim this holiday.

1. Don’t enter credit card information into sites that aren’t genuine

Never give up personal, credit card or online account information on a website that you aren’t sure is genuine.

An easy way to be sure is to check out the address bar on your web browser to see if the site is verified by Google. Most well known sites will display a lock symbol before the website address on parts of a site where transactions are made.

If you’re still not sure, you can also call or email the website in question to check them out. Most sites will have contact info at the bottom of the page.

2. Check website addresses carefully

Double check website addresses before entering any sensitive information. Sometimes scammers will set up fake websites by phishing – which is basically masquerading as a trusted site to gain access to credit card details or passwords.

For example, you might get an email from a site like eBay or PayPal that looks legit telling you your account has been compromised, and you need to sign in to fix the problem.

When you click on that link in your email, it might take you to a site that looks just like eBay, but isn’t. But signing in there, you essentially hand over your real login info to a scam artist.

Checking the Google SafeBrowse report on a website address can also help determine its legitimacy. Just type “http://google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=” into your address bar with the website address after the equals sign, and hit enter. Google will give you a report on that specific site and if any suspicious or malicious activity has been noticed there.

3. Never give personal bank information over the phone or email

This one is fairly self-explanatory. Unless you’re absolutely certain of the person on the other end of an email or phone call, don’t hand over your Visa number or banking information.

4. Destroy old personal information

Hamilton police say it’s not enough to just throw out your old bills and receipts – you need to make sure no one could grab it from your trash, too.

“You should cut up, burn or shred old bills, statements or cards,” police say. Just burn things safely if you’re taking flame to a pile of old bank statements.

5. Don’t give cash to strangers

This one also falls into the mostly common sense category, but still needs to be said.

Police say you should never agree to take out a large sum of cash from your account and send it to someone you don’t know, or meet someone you don’t know to give them cash.

Just don’t do this.

6. Check with police/friends about a transaction

If you feel a bit suspicious about a transaction online or through a site like Craigslist or Kijiji, check with police before sending money. They have officers who can help advise you of scams in the area. It’s a good idea to be wary, sometimes.

You can also check in with friends and family for a second opinion – maybe they’ve heard about sketchy practices in the city, too.

7. Don’t pay up front fees for a lottery win

Legit lottery agencies will never ask a winner to pay fees upfront to receive a prize, lottery or sweepstake, police say.

So if you win a “lottery” that tells you to do this, you’re likely about to be scammed.

8. If it sounds too good to be true, it likely is

This applies to almost all aspects of life, but even more so when it comes to winning prizes or finding insane deals.

If someone is selling a brand new game console online for half the purchase price, ask yourself why they would do that? It’s likely too good to be true.

Same goes for those phone calls proclaiming that you just won a free cruise. You haven't.

9. Resist pressure to ‘act now’

Scam artists will often try to push you quickly into a deal without thinking. Resist that urge, police say.

“Don’t let suspects pressure you into making quick decisions about money or investments,” police say. It’s your money. Think carefully about what you want to do with it.