Tips offered to keep your purchases, your car and yourself safe
this holiday
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – Shopping malls won’t be the only place to find steals this holiday season – for criminals, at least.
With the shopping rush well under way both in stores and online, consumers are being urged to protect themselves from thieves who are after everything from gifts to identities to cars. Law enforcement officials say ’tis the season for Gilroy residents to use caution and stay aware of their surroundings.
Identity theft has been a rising threat during the past few years. More than 27 million Americans have been identity theft victims in the last five years, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The cost to consumers: $5 billion.
“What happens is, a lot of people tend to do their shopping on the Internet, and we’ve found that a lot of people’s credit cards are used, then they’re taken from the system,” said Julian Quiñonez, a detective with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office in South County.
Online sales are expected to reach $16.7 billion this holiday season, up 29 percent compared to online sales for the same period last year, according to research firm eMarketer.
Quiñonez suggests people use secured accounts when shopping online, and only buy from reputable companies. Look for an unbroken lock symbol in the status bar of the Web browser, and “https” at the beginning of the Web site address to indicate information is encrypted or scrambled. Also, make sure the e-business lists a street address and phone number, so it can be contacted directly with questions, says the California Department of Consumer Affairs.
The department suggests consumers use just one credit card – with a low limit – when buying online, to track purchases. The company’s privacy policy will indicate whether personal information will be shared with others.
South County residents may also be leaving themselves vulnerable to identity theft or fraud simply by mailing out cards with checks in them, Quiñonez said.
“If you’re going to mail out any Christmas gifts, like money orders or checks, take them to the post office – don’t put them in your mailbox, especially this time of year,” he said. “That’s one of the problems we ran into last year at Christmas.”
Residents of rural areas are particularly vulnerable because their mailboxes may be several hundred feet away from their homes, and not clearly visible. Even mailing bills from home mailboxes is not recommen8ded.
“People really need to protect themselves all the time, but especially now, when people want to get that money for Christmas,” Quiñonez said.
The Sheriff’s department received three reports of mail theft of checks over the past weekend, Quiñonez said, and he expects the incidents will increase as the holidays near.
“Convenience comes at a price,” he said. “It’s not the way it used to be, when we could put our mail in the mailbox and everything was OK.”
Some grinches will be after more material things this month, so shoppers should protect themselves and their purchases, warns the Department of Consumer Affairs.
Over the past weekend, the Gilroy Police Department arrested two people for stealing from Wal-Mart and two people for auto theft. Several vehicles were broken into, although none at local retail stores. The previous weekend, one car at the outlets and two parked at Kohl’s were burglarized.
To prevent such thefts, keep purchases out of site, preferably in the trunk of the car, says the consumer affairs department. Don’t linger in the parking lot of a store or mall. Keep purses and wallets close at hand, using breast pockets in jackets or front pockets in pants to store keys or money, and always keep an eye on credit cards.
Don’t throw away credit card or ATM receipts into public trash containers, or leave them on the store counter, says the Insurance Information Institute.
Law enforcement is reminding residents that car thieves lurk even before shoppers hit the malls this time of year. With near-record low temperatures hitting Gilroy overnight, it may be tempting to warm up the car for a few minutes before heading out in the morning. Police departments are reminding residents that criminals are opportunists, and every year drive away with cars after the owner has stepped inside just for a minute.
For more holiday tips, go to the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Web site at www.dca.ca.gov.
