Debit cards pull the money straight from your debit account, so once you swipe, you pretty much say goodbye to that money. If you do get caught up in a scam, getting your money back from debit card purchases is nearly impossible. Do not use your debit card for online transactions Second red flag: the price on the statement was higher than I paid at checkout. This means that a vendor by another name is running your card and that the website could be a front altogether. But if there is a suspected currency conversation when there shouldn’t have been or if the value is incorrect, that’s a red flag. In my case, the vendor name in the transaction did not match the company name. Keep currency conversions in mind when ordering from international retailers. The easiest way to spot a scam is if the amount charged to your card is different from that at checkout. The amount of vendor name on your statement does not match the website If there is no mailing address, phone number, or email address listed on the site, back away! Scammers put little to no contact information out into the cyber universe to try to be untraceable. There is little to no contact information
MILLUMIN HEATER PROFESSIONAL
The website was also very professional in appearance in every aspect, even checkout. This is how scammers deceive ignorant shoppers. Secure website URLs also lead with “https,” the “S” stands for secure. Well established, trusted retailers will have this icon. The data is encrypted, preventing anyone to access the data exchanged, including personal information such as credit card numbers. This little padlock means that communication between the web server and browser are secure. Check for the little lock next to the URL A scam sale can camouflage into the holiday madness just as easily as you can swipe your card. A few calls with customer service later, the purchase was blocked and my money was safe.īlack Friday and the holiday season is prime time for scammers to prey-everything is on sale for the holidays, last minute sales pop up days before Christmas, and steep clearance sales for the new year. Moments later I received an alert from my credit card company of a potentially fraudulent purchase. Perhaps I entered the info in wrong, so I tried again. Here they were, on sale for Black Friday at 50 percent off. As a college student, the only way I could justify purchasing them was if they were on sale. I’ve had my eye on these sneakers for a few months now but never let my lust get the best of me because they had a pretty steep price tag, $415. After about a half hour of perusing and nothing great catching my eye, I found them-Common Projects Achilles Low-top Sneakers at 50 percent off. With just a few weeks left until Christmas, anything good will be swiped today and won’t restock until the new year. It was Black Friday and I was anxiously typing away and refreshing pages in hopes of finding an unexpected deal.