If you know me personally, you have heard me brag that one of the smartest things I ever did was marry my IT guy.  As a point of clarification: that does not mean that I don’t screw up and make mistakes on line (there’s a funny blog waiting to happen right there, for sure….OUCH!).  What it does mean is that when I make a mistake on line, I quickly have recovery, restoration and reprimand all over me; which is a small price to pay given the bigger price that many people pay for such mistakes.

But alas, the internet is still the wild, wild west with so many scammers and cons out there today that it is hard to stay ahead of the curve.  So here is a special holiday gift of warnings that may keep some of my friends out of trouble on line this holiday season.

Beware of QR Codes!  If you are like more than half of smart phone owners, you will use your phone for holiday-shopping activities this season.  Beware of the new trend whereby scammers are placing renegade codes on top of legitimate codes to compromise your smart phone’s security. If you are going to use your smart phone for holiday shopping, you MUST have enabled and updated security software.

Use Secure Websites!  Do not ever, ever, ever buy from a website if the ’S’ on ‘https’ is missing from the browser’s address bar!  The ‘S’ indicates the site is secure.  Do not provide your credit-card information to a website if the site is not secure.

Fake Shopping Websites:  Realize that you don’t know where a click takes you anymore.  It could take you to a fake site that looks just like that marvelous online retailer that you absolutely adore.  Double check it by not using the “click here” but actually typing the company’s web address directly into your web browser address bar.

Irresistible Online Deals (Coupons, Fraudulent Promos and Contests & Too Good To Be True Deals):  Scammers offer irresistible online coupons, free prizes, great deals and trips to far away places in order to trick people into handing over personal information.  The security guru’s at McAfee warn that one current coupon scam is to lure consumers with the prospect of winning a “free iPad.”  Newsflash:  iPads are not free and never will be so do not be click, click, clicking on those ‘phishing’ sites that promise such pie in the sky deals.  They only lead you to an e-mail spammer that is waiting to steal your identity.  Ditto on those online coupon codes that seek to obtain your personal information such as credit-card, passwords and other financial info.

The Hottest Trend Gift of the Year Right Here, Right Now.  Each year some toys and gadgets become one of those “hottest trend gifts” by virtue of selling out early. (this brings back memories to me of cabbage patch dolls).  Scammers play on your desire to give that really special gift and when supply runs out and demand goes up, they begin advertising on bogus websites and social networks, even when they don’t have any of those trendy items.  Once you pay for these gifts on credit card and never see anything in return.

So, be very, very careful this holiday season.  Very few people have money to throw away.  Plus there is the sting of being taken by a scammer.  One of those memories that keeps on giving and giving.