Holiday Shopping Awareness

With the holidays among us it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of shopping, giving and receiving and drop our awareness of what’s going on around us.

Be cognisant of your surroundings when out and about, especially when shopping.
I urge daytime shopping if at all possible if you are having to go at it alone. Go early in the morning or even better mid-day during mid-week when most everyone else is at work.

When using garages or lots at night, always park in a well lit area, that has substantial human traffic. Never leave packages in plain view in a vehicle, SUV owners make sure the cargo area is concealed. Tint your cargo windows, get a pit bull for the back, but don’t leave a shopping extravaganza in full view. Always lock your vehicle and inspect the interior before entering when returning from your shopping excursions. Try to avoid parking next to closed in vans and trucks whenever possible, and when approaching your vehicle look underneath as well.

When juggling small children and packages and returning to a vehicle parked in the rear of a mall lot during night hours, request a security escort. If that is not possible have your keys ready and walk directly and determined to the location of your vehicle. The most vunerable person for a shopping related robbery is one that has small children and packages with them.

Unloading at home. I try to be as discreet as possible when taking packages inside, I do it quickly, and quietly. Trust me, there are individuals quite content with letting you do their Christmas shopping for them, and picking up the goods while you’re at work or out. Depending upon the effectiveness of your neighborhood watch, or resident canine, displaying wrapped packages under a Christmas tree in an open window may or may not be a good idea. Be careful with this. Frankly for me my resident canine takes care of any peeping toms turned cat burglars.

And plastic payment seems the currency of choice during the holiday season. Check this story http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/21/60minutes/main3530302.shtml that aired on CBS 60 minutes Sunday, November 25th, 2007 regarding brick and mortar security breeches relating to credit card and other personal information. Be careful who you hand your plastic payment to and watch the process through from beginning to end, and always get a receipt for the authorized card charges as well as the purchases. Use trusted sites when shopping online, and ignore these scams requesting you help the widow of some honorable dignitary get money out of a bank in some third world cave.

Enjoy your holiday, be safe and cautious about the season. Comments and tips? Feel free!