Holiday shopping online: Beware of deals, steals and scams

BOSTON — By the end of Cyber Monday, millions of people will have logged on to their computers hoping to make the most of holiday deals.

It’s also prime time for scams as online criminals use days like this to capitalize on the frenzy.

Whether at work or at home, if you were tempted to log on and shop, you're not alone.

“They're expecting an increase this year. A modest increase," Edgar Dworksey, founder of Consumerworld.org, said.

He says from Black Friday to the Monday back to work there are a lot of great deals as retailers push consumers to shop their brands first.

But not all deals are worth the hype.

“Let me give you an example. Last week, Sears had their own brand of jeans on sale for $9.99, which was a crazy low price. Today, they’re double the price, but there's a 25 percent-off coupon, so you're still paying more," Dworsky explained.

He says consumers have to shop smart and strategically.

“Put an item in your basket, whether it's at Jet.com or Amazon or Target, keep going back and checking your basket and you'll see how the price changes,” said Dworsky.

Shopping smart doesn’t just extend to maximizing the deals.

IBM security expert Caleb Barlow says he's seen consumers taken in, clicking phishing emails, a scam that looks like a message from a legitimate brand but isn’t.

“Cyber Monday, you might not be going to a retail site. You might be going to the bad guys,” said Barlow.

He says from coupon code offers, to tracking a package, shoppers should go directly to the site they’re interested in and not get there through an email link.

When it's time to buy, Dworsky recommends protecting your real credit card number.

“Use what I call a virtual credit card. Citi bank and Bank of America, for example, let you get a one-time-use credit card number,” he said.

Dworsky says if you missed out on the best deals, hang on a little longer.

“That day-after-Christmas is certainly a big day to get half off,” he added.

Dworsky has one other recommendation, if you're led to a site that seems too good to be true, you can visit ResellerRatings.com to see if the link checks out.

Cox Media Group