This Morning expert Alexis Conran has revealed three ways to avoid being scammed this Christmas.
At this time of year, people are rushing to find the best deals as they get all their Christmas presents together and search high and low for the best gifts for their families, friends and loved ones. However, Alexis - who is best known for starring on The Real Hustle - has revealed three things to look out for when making a purchase, and what to avoid.
Alexis explained to hosts Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond the ways people could avoid being scammed in the run up to Christmas, as he issued some clever tips to ensure people keep as safe as possible when making online purchases.
Speaking on the ITV show, Alexis Conran said: "The other things that you can do, pay with credit card. Under the consumer credit act, you get some protection if it's a scam. And also you can use other websites.
"There's a great website called urlscan.io; you copy and paste the website you're going to visit and it tells you when that website was registered. Now if it was registered this month or today, I don't think you should be doing business there."
He added: "You see these a lot on social media, and what you'll see is vouchers that will help with the cost of your supermarket shop and they're from big brands. The advice is, if you've seen this, go onto the supermarket's genuine website and if it's a genuine offer, it'll also be on their website. If it's not there and you've just seen it on social media, I wouldn't touch it."
One mum recently recalled how she was left heartbroken when she was sold a fake Samsung phone via Facebook Marketplace
"I feel heartbroken and I just keep bursting into tears when I think of it. This has wrecked our Christmas because I was saving up all year to get Patrick the top phone. The conman took all the money," she explained to the Daily Record, "I was nervous about using Facebook Marketplace but everything is so expensive and I just wanted to get a bargain."
She added: "I had all sorts of alarm bells going but I thought my failsafe was getting the guy to speak to the camera, as he knew the police would be getting sight of it if the deal wasn’t straight.
"But I think he probably suspected the police would fob me off. I am glad they seem to be taking it seriously now."
