Here's how to avoid online holiday shopping scams

ROSEVILLE, Minn. – The season of giving this time of year usually includes lots of spending. Unfortunately, nefarious people take advantage of that. 

Last year, 40% of all scams reported to the Better Business Bureau involved online shopping. Much of which occurs during the holiday season. 

The busiest shopping season of the year is upon us, and while malls like Rosedale aren't bustling quite just yet, the rush to find good deals and hit shipping deadlines is approaching.

"But when we get to a scrambling phase, we're gonna be more susceptible to scams that come our way in social media, text messages, in emails," said Bao Vang with the Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota. "And we're not gonna be thinking as logically as we do throughout the year about being a victim of scammers."

Spending you money at a brick-and-mortar store is one of the safest ways to avoid scams. But our shopping habits are trending toward the online market place, where criminals are lurking.

"They're gonna try to do two things. Number 1, try to take your hard-earned money, or number 2, they are trying to steal your identity," Vang said.  

Impersonation scams is one method, such as a fake website that looks like a legitimate retailer. It will claim to have a product that's sold out everywhere else, or have one at a cheaper price than other retailers.

The website's link might get sent to you via email or on social media. The goal is to have you pay for something without ever getting it - or steal your personal information.

"Check to see if it's a secure website, and that's as easy as identifying if it starts with HTTPS. That 'S' right there at the end of 'HTTPS' is … a symbol of a secure site," Vang said.

Keeping with our online shopping theme, delivery scams ramp up. Some text messages will urge you to click on a link because there was an issue with a package. Scammers pretend to be UPS or the postal service in hopes of stealing personal info, or downloading malware to a device.  

It also arrives via email. Don't click the link.

"If you are expecting a package, go to the original site and click on that link from there that has your password and information that's securely on that site and identify when it's really coming," she said.

Here's how to stay safe shopping online:

* If a deal feels too good to be true - it probably is.

* Use a credit card, since fraudulent purchases can often be disputed.

* Do your research to make sure an online retailer is legitimate.

The Better Business Scam Tracker can help you identify which ones are not.

"We have to be sure that we're doing all the steps necessary in order to ensure that our product or service is a real one," Vang said.

The BBB estimates that its scam tracker helped save people $31 million last year.