With the busiest shopping period of the year upon us, especially online, the public and retailers alike are being advised to take steps to protect themselves from fraud by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation.
In its Public Advice Alert for the Christmas period, consumers are warned to take extra care when purchasing popular Christmas gifts online. Previous reports suggest that smart phones, digital cameras, designer goods, laptops, and notebooks and video game systems are the top five to feature in online shopping fraud.
To make sure your online shopping is safe and secure the advice is as follows:
• Only use secure websites that you trust. Check online forums for feedback.
• If website prices for designer items, games and smart phones seem too good to be true, they probably are. Legitimate popular technology and designer items are rarely discounted.
The bureau also advises to check for counterfeit currency, as follows:
• Make sure you can feel the raised intaglio printing on all genuine notes. Hold up the note against a bright light source, the denomination in the top left hand corner should be fully visible and perfectly formed. Check if you can see a security thread embedded in the genuine note.
• Do not accept bank drafts from someone not known to you. Do not send release or deliver goods on foot of a bank draft that has not been cleared by the issuing bank.
• Control who has access to your cheque books and do not sign cheques in advance. Cross all cheques 'a/c payee only'. Do not cash third party cheques.
ATM tips
Always shield your hand when you enter your PIN number at the ATM device. Always look closely at an ATM machine to see if anything unusual is attached or looks different than normal. Walk away and do not use the ATM machine if people around you are acting suspiciously, and report to gardaí.
“Crime prevention is everybody’s business. The gardaí cannot fight crime alone without the support and cooperation of the community,” said a Garda spokesperson.
Further information is available on www.garda.ie
