Schneiderman Warns Holiday Shoppers To Be Cautious About Toys, Personal Info
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- With holiday shopping season beginning in earnest this week, New York's attorney general issued several warnings Tuesday.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sent a letter to retailers reminding them of their legal obligation to ensure the safety of the toys they sell. He also is cautioning parents that "just because a product is on the shelf does not mean that it's safe."
WEB EXTRA: Tips To Avoid Hazardous Toys
At a news conference, Schneiderman displayed some brightly colored toys that he said pose danger, WCBS 880's Peter Haskell reported.
Schneiderman Warns Holiday Shoppers To Be Cautious About Toy, Personal Info
"Each one of these products contains heavy metals like antimony, cobalt, lead, mercury and ... cadmium," consumer advocate Bobbi Chase Wilding said.
Meanwhile, the attorney general cautioned online shoppers to be careful about which sites they are using.
Schneiderman recommended checking the Web browser's address bar to make sure it begins with "https" -- "because the 's' means that your sensitive data will be encrypted," he said.
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, D-Bronx, also warned that there are a lot of scams out there.
"We do associate this holiday, Thanksgiving, with turkeys, but the fact is there are a lot of vultures out there," he said.
Shoppers are also advised to use credit cards rather than debit cards because debit cards could leave their banking account more vulnerable.
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