Q. My time is limited and I plan to shop online for Valentine’s Day. What online safety steps should I consider?
A. According to the National Retail Federation, total spending for Valentine’s Day is expected to reach $19.6 billion in 2018, up from $18.2 billion last year, and 29 percent of consumers plan to shop online.
Although you can’t beat the convenience of getting what you need at the click of a button, all too often, consumers find what they ordered is not what they get. Worse, many websites are total scams that take your money and don’t send a thing. How can you be certain the websites where you shop are legitimate? BBB offers these tips for safe online shopping:
Jim Winsett of the BBB. » Know the advertiser. Some of the best deals are only available online, but be careful. It’s easy for a fake site to mimic a famous retailer’s website, so make sure you are shopping with a legitimate site. Check out retailers at bbb.org before you shop.
» Check a site’s security settings. If the site is secure, its URL (web address) should start with “https://” and include a lock icon on the purchase or shopping cart page.