State offers online holiday shopping safety tips

The Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’ Office of Consumer Protection on Tuesday warned Hawaii residents to protect themselves as they gear up for the holiday shopping season.

“One of the biggest complaints we hear about is Internet fraud,” said Office of Consumer Protection Executive Director Bruce Kim . “Many people will spend the holiday weekend at the malls and online to make their gift purchases. We want to make sure Hawaii residents are wary of the con artists lurking on the Web.”

Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving Day, has been a high sales day for online shopping, according to the office. The director has provided the following tips for Hawaii residents to protect their identities and bank accounts from potential fraud when shopping on the Internet:

• Only do business with reputable companies.
• Use a secure browser. The website address should begin with https:, instead of the usual http:.
• Use one credit card to make all online purchases.
• Print and save all receipts and confirmations.
• Make sure you clearly understand a company’s return policy.
• Never respond to an offer by way of a spam or bulk email. If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
• If you receive an email asking for personal information, do not hit the reply button or click on any link in the e-mail. Instead, go directly to the sender’s website by typing in its web address.

“Don’t let the possibility of saving some dollars cloud your common sense. If that deal sounds too good to be true, chances are it is,” Kim said.