Lots of people will do their shopping online this season to avoid crowds and congested roads. But those who do must be very careful to avoid falling victim to cyber crooks taking advantage of the holiday rush.

There are 12 dangerous online scams that consumers should be aware of this holiday season, ranging from iPad offer scams to fake gift cards to holiday downloads.

1. iPad offer scams – With Apple products at the top of many a Christmas wish list, scammers are busy sending bogus offers for free iPads. In the spam version of the scam, consumers are asked to buy other products and provide their credit card number to get the free gadget.

2. Help, I’ve Been Robbed! scam – This travel-themed scam sends bogus distress messages to family and friends requesting money to be wired or transferred so the stranded party can get home. This scam is expected to increase during the busy travel season.

3. Fake gift cards – Social media sites are used to promote fake gift card offers with the goal of stealing consumers’ information, which is then sold n the black market or used for identity theft. One recent Facebook scam offered a free $1,000 Best Buy gift card to the first 20,000 who signed up for a Best Buy fan page, which was a spoofed site. To qualify, those who signed up had to provide personal information and take quizzes.

4. Holiday job offers – With the extra spending that comes during the holidays, more people are seeking opportunities to make some extra cash. Twitter scams have been offering dangerous links to high-paying, work-at-home jobs asking for personal information.

5. Smishing – Cyber crooks are now sending phishing text messages, also known as smiting. These texts appear to come from a consumer’s bank or an online retailer, saying there is a problem with the account. To resolve the issue, the user must call a number to verify his or her account information.

6. Suspicious holiday rentals – During high-volume travel times, consumers often look online for affordable holiday rentals. To cash in on that, crooks post fake holiday rental sites that ask for down payments on properties by credit card or wire.

7. Recession scams – Scammers exploit vulnerable consumers with recession-related scams, such as pay-in-advance credit schemes. The scams involve the advertisement of low-interest loans and credit cards if the recipient pays a processing fee.

8. Grinch greetings – E-cards are convenient and are environmentally-friendly. But criminals create fake versions with links to viruses and other malware.

9. Low price traps – If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Shoppers should be cautious about products priced much lower than compared to their competitors.

10. Charity scams – It’s traditionally the time for giving, but criminals also prey upon the generous. Common scams include phone calls and spam asking users to donate to veterans’ charities, children’s causes and relief funds for some catastrophe. Give directly to the charity only, not through some outside agency or representative.

11. Dangerous holiday downloads – Holiday-themed screensavers, jingles and animations are an easy way for scammers to spread viruses and other computer threats.

12. Free Wi-Fi – Many travel during the holidays, and they use free Wi-Fi at airports and hotels. Thieves know this and target these places, looking for places to steal personal information.

When it comes to holiday identity theft, it pays to be Grinchy – don’t let criminals get the upper hand.

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Contrary to popular belief, not all of Santa’s elves are jovial, industrious toymakers; there are also evil elves that take temporary holiday retail jobs to commit ID theft and credit fraud. And, they’ll steal your identity in less time than it takes Santa to slip down the chimney.

Big retail stores hire as many as 50 new employees during the holiday season, and many of them don’t get vetted as thoroughly as year-round workers. Adding to the ID theft risk is the fact that these additional employees aren’t management—they double the number of employees management typically oversees.

So, how can shoppers protect themselves from the evil ID theft elves?

• Shop with cash. ID theft elves can only do their mischief with the information you give them.
• If you pay with checks, don’t have your phone number, birth date, Social Security number or driver’s license number printed on them.
• If you shop with a bank card/debit card, use it as a credit card; credit card companies will cover the expense of goods purchased fraudulently by ID theft, or charge you a maximum of $50. You’re betting on the bank or credit union’s benevolence when you use the debit side of the account.
• Don’t leave your wallet on the counter while waiting for your card or driver’s license to be returned. And thief can pick it up while you’re distracted. Instead, return it to your purse or wallet, and then pull it out again.
• Never let your card or driver’s license out of your sight. Clerks you claim they have to go to another register to check out your purchases could be creating an opportunity to write down your personally identifying information to commit ID theft later.
• Always check the credit card reader before swiping your card. “Credit card skimmers” can be inserted into the legitimate model, where they can record—and in some cases, transmit—the account information contained on the magnetic strip. Never use a credit card reader if the card slot seems wiggly.

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Shopping for the kids on your list is definitely more fun, but you can’t put it off any longer: it’s time to figure out what to buy for all those hard-to-buy-for people on your holiday shopping list. Well, lucky you, I have some tips on what to buy—and perhaps more importantly—what not to buy.

I know that it’s tempting to give up and resort to gag gifts after several years of buying bad gifts despite your good intentions. Resist. Let’s start there with the list of what not to buy for hard-to-buy-for people:

Do not buy

• Wind-up boxing nuns,
• Racing grandma and grandpa,
• Reindeer that poop candy, or
• Singing bass plaque.
• Do not buy gift certificates for elderly relatives; they don’t need anything from the mall, don’t want to go shopping, don’t have anyplace to put it and really shouldn’t be driving anyhow.

The list of what to buy for hard-to-buy-for people is shorter.

• Send all or part of a holiday meal. There are dozens of stores that deliver wonderful hams, turkeys or smoked fish. (I love the oven-roasted turkey breast from HoneyBaked Ham™ and the smoked salmon from Williams-Sonoma™.) If your particular hard-to-buy-for gift recipients are elderly, they’ll appreciate not having to do so much holiday cooking, or being able to contribute something special to a holiday meal at someone else’s house. Even if they’re younger, your gift will take off some of the pressure.
• Buy them an ID theft service. It’s another one of those things that makes life a little easier for the hard-to-buy-for people. For instance, everyone knows they should check their credit reports for fraudulent activity and errors at least annually, but only 1 in 3 actually does it. LifeLock, for instance, contacts the credit bureaus for them and requests the reports are sent to their members.

In 2008, nearly 10 million Americans were ID theft victims and roughly 285 million records were exposed in data breaches, so it’s not like it’s a gift that nobody needs.

And, maybe best of all, you don’t have to fight shopping crowds to get it and you don’t have to wrap it or ship it.

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It’s time to start your online holiday shopping, and what could be more convenient than sitting in your favorite Wi-Fi coffee shop while you work your way through your gift list? But if you aren’t careful you could end up an online identity theft victim instead of everyone’s favorite Santa.

Fortunately, you can protect yourself from online identity theft with these five simple steps:

• Secure your Internet connection: Be sure your software firewall is on, and your file sharing is off.
• Shop on only secure sites: You can determine whether a site is secure by looking for the padlock icon in the bottom right corner of your browser page. Look for the https (instead of http) in the site’s URL; the “s” stands for secure.
• Watch for shoulder surfers: Coffee shops are often jam-packed during the holiday season, making it easy for shoulder surfers to go undetected. Stay aware of your surroundings and shield your card and screen before you enter you credit card number into any website.
• Use secure passwords: Passwords should be at least eight characters long, and a combination of numbers, symbols, and upper and lower-case letters that create an easily remembered phrase. (Example: “!H8vmprs” for I hate vampires) Use a unique password for every site and change them at least annually.
• Don’t be fooled by phishing: Never click on a link or reply to any email that requests your personal or financial information. No matter how official an email looks, no government agency, financial institution or retailer is going to ask for this information in an email.

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