So the holiday shopping season begins! I’ve never been one to make the pilgrimage on Black Friday (or late Thursday) in order to score the best deals. Bringing along a reluctant husband and three small children takes the “crazy” holiday shopping to epic proportions. Even during the normal shopping season, I spend more time in restrooms, food courts, and the mini-arcades with the cars, rocket ships, and motorcycles, than I do in an actual store. So for my sanity and out of compassion for my fellow shoppers, I mostly shop at home, from my computer.

 

This past Friday we started in on our annual post-Thanksgiving tradition of decorating for Christmas. We got out the lights, the garland, the ornaments, and put up the tree. We played Christmas music, drank hot chocolate, and found ourselves covered in glitter and those little pieces of shiny silver garland by dinner time. Then we feasted on turkey fajitas (another tradition), scarfed down the last of the pumpkin pie, and retired to the family room to admire our handiwork. The kiddoes settled down in front of the television to watch Frosty the Snowman, their favorite holiday show, and I settled down in front of my laptop to scour my favorite online stores for holiday sales. My husband settled down on the couch for an evening nap, because even disguised as fajitas, turkey still knocks him out.

I turned on my computer, which immediately resulted in my youngest, our 1 year old baby boy, crawling into my lap and pushing as many buttons as he possibly could. I tried to distract him with an old laptop that we kept after it broke down, but he wasn’t buying it. Thankfully, I don’t store my credit card number online at any of the stores I frequent, or I would have made quite a few unintended purchases with his help.  I’ve been tempted to “store my credit card for future use” any number of times for convenience, but after an experience last year, caution has always won out. I received a phone call from Afena Federal Credit Union’s fraud prevention department asking if I had made any purchases in Georgia that day, but I was enjoying a day at home, right here in Marion, Indiana. Apparently, somebody had my credit card number and they were enjoying a shopping spree that could have ended badly for me. I was so grateful that Afena had someone watching out for suspicious transactions. This year, I know credit card fraud and identity theft is even more prevalent, and that’s why I’m always cautious when typing in my information.

So, while you’re enjoying your own holiday traditions and any shopping you may do, if it’s online, keep these tips in mind: look for https:// in the address, as the “s” stands for secure; keep your anti-virus software updated; only shop on a secure network that is password protected; avoid clicking on pop-up message links; and if you suspect fraud, get in touch with your credit card company immediately. I hope you have a happy and safe shopping experience this holiday season. I’m Claire, the Afena blog mom. Thanks for reading.