Be Aware of Potential Scams if Your Holiday Shopping This Weekend

Friday, November 26th, 2021 -- 11:01 AM

(Raymond Neupert, WRN) The holiday shopping season is here, and before you drop your money on the newest and hottest items, be sure you're getting what you're paying for.

Madison College marketing professor Steve Noll says you should be wary of unsolicited ads and promotions for hot items like a PlayStation 5 or other hard-to-find gifts. "They're counting on people kind of you know seeing something and then getting emotionally excited and that emotion leads to a transaction and that's the key thing with scammers, is somehow trigger an emotional response."

Noll says it's important to be aware when a scammer or even a legitimate business is trying to goad you into making a hasty purchase. "A shopping experience should not be this emotionally triggering event, and if anything is really triggering that moment of suspense, excitement, urgency, right then and there you need to take a step back take a breath."

Noll says you can expect scammers to take advantage of the scarcity of some items this season to goad you into making a risky purchase. "It's also fodder for scammers to use that sense of urgency to try to get people to click, and then say 'hey, you got to get your order, do it right now, you got to give up your credit card information right away!'"

Noll says that if you're seeing pushy sales tactics or prices that seem too good to be true, take a step back and check the price and where the item is supposedly coming from.

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