Holiday consumer safety: keeping your wallet and packages safe

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Holiday shopping is supposed to be a fun search for the best deals, but many experts warn people to be cautious about some of those deals and to take care when having their items shipped to their houses.

Many Americans find themselves the victims of scams each year, which Whitney Adkins with the Better Business Bureau says there are a few ways to avoid.

“You can’t always trust the ads that are popping up on social media, you know, as you’re scrolling, because, again, anyone can create an ad. So it’s really best not to click on the ad, but to visit the company website directly. If they’re having a sale, they’re going to have that sale on their website,” Adkins said.

Adkins also suggests making all purchases with a credit card if possible. This way, in most cases, if you did happen to fall victim to a scam, then then you do not lose the money as would happen if a debit card was used.

On the shipping side of things, Ronnie Ward, Bowling Green Police Department public information officer, recommends a few things, including letting trusted neighbors know when you might have packages coming and you won’t be home.

“It’s always really tough to try to figure out how to protect your packages. I mean, you’d like to think that you could order something and it would be on your porch when you got home from wherever you’ve been that day. But the truth of the matter is that if people can see that package, it’s at risk,” Ward said.

The most important thing is knowing when they are coming and minimizing the time they are sitting out visibly.

Ward also recommends not leaving the boxes of expensive electronics sitting next to the garbage bin, cut them up and put them in the bin, this reduces the likelihood of potential home and even car break-ins.