WREXHAM residents are being urged to stay safe when shopping online during the build up to Christmas.

The Wrexham Trading Standards team is advising shoppers to keep any eye on some basic online safety checks when buying goods or presents online, with the vast majority of them taking just a few seconds to carry out.

A spokesperson for Wrexham Council, said: "Nobody wants to put themselves at risk of losing money just before Christmas.

"Research from National Trading Standards shows more than two thirds of shoppers leave out key safety checks when shopping online, which leaves themselves at risk of fraud."

If buying products from an online seller, the council has put together a list of the few basic things you can do to keep yourself safe from fraud:

  • Do not be taken in by promotion or discount offers shared on social media – these can look inviting, but often link to 'copycat' websites so fraudsters can steal your details.
  • Look for reviews of the product or retailer/seller and ask yourself whether or not they look genuine.
  • Are there lots of spelling or grammar mistakes on the website? If so, that could be a hint that the business is not professionally run.
  • Make sure the website has an encrypted address – this will show up if there is a padlock symbol in the taskbar (where you type in the address), or if there is an 's' at the end of the 'http' part of the address. If so, this means that the website is using an encrypted system, which keeps your details secure.
  • Does the company have a landline number you can call if you have any problems?
  • Read the small print – notice if anything seems odd, repetitive or in incorrect English.
  • Do not be tricked by an impossible bargain – if something looks too good to be true, it probably is.
  • Keep in mind that fraudsters exploit high demand – if shops run out of things like toys and games, crooks will step in and sell poor quality or imitation versions. Do not panic buy – just make a few common sense checks like those above and make sure you are not handing your details over to a criminal.
  • Lots of online retailers are far busier than usual because of Covid and quite a few have struggled to meet demand resulting in delays and mistakes and significant difficulty in getting a positive response.
  • Check online reviews of web traders, especially if you have not used them before and they are not familiar to you.
  • Use a credit card when purchasing goods over £100 – this can give you extra protection in the event that things go wrong or, check what protection your bank can provide where you pay with a debit card.