Cyber Monday Brings Online Deals, Crooks, Too

Tips for safe, online shopping.

Black Friday was the mega-mall rush. Small Business Saturday put shopping on Main Street in focus. Today will be the online crush known as Cyber Monday. Some 129.2 million Americans will shop online  this year, up from 122.8 million who did so last year, according to a BIGinsight survey for Shop.org. They're expected to spend $1.5 billion online today, according to Comscore.com. That's on top of the $1.04 billion they spent online out of the total $59.1 billion they spent during the Black Friday weekend. With those kind of numbers, cyber thieves will be out in full force to try and part you from your money. Here are some tips from IDentity Theft 911 to ensure that you don't fall prey to an online scam:

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Question Of The Week

Has The Shopping Season Gotten Out Of Control?

Patch Question of the Week: Do you love these annual shopping day extravaganzas? Or avoid them like the plague?

They've become such a part of the American economic scene their names are instantly recognizable: Black Friday. Cyber Monday. And the more recent addition, Small Business Saturday, which tries to make sure locally-owned businesses don't get forgotten in the holiday shopping frenzy. This year, some of the grand retail plans have come with an extra helping of controversy. Target stores will open their doors to shoppers at 9 pm on Thanksgiving night, prompting several petition drives in protest. The Mall at Stonecrest in Lithonia will be opening, for the first time in its history, at 12:00 am on Friday morning. Lenox Square is also opening at midnight. Northlake Mall will be opening at 4 a.m. Friday and Perimeter Mall will kick off Black …

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