(Radio Iowa) – There are only a few shopping days are left until Christmas, and many Iowans are avoiding the crowds — and COVID-19 — by doing their holiday shopping online, but that course of action brings another whole set of risks. Consumer protection specialist Tricia Collins says Iowans doing last-minute shopping need to be especially careful when clicking on random ads in their social media feeds, as they may look very tempting. “You want to watch out for offers that appear to be too good to be true, because in most cases, they may be,” Collins says, “and you also want to keep your eye out for fake websites or online marketplace pages.”

Collins says many of the complaints agencies get each holiday season are about fake websites and bogus ads on places like Facebook. One way to avoid trouble, she says, is to do your research. “A lot of time crooks will use fake websites and social media messages to trick you into thinking it’s the real business,” Collins says, “and then you may download some malware or they try to gather your personal and financial information.”

She says your best defense is to shop around and don’t buy something on a whim from an unknown source. “You want to verify that the website you’re looking at is legitimate before you place an order or provide any information,” Collins says. “Look for the company’s name, where they’re located, their contact information.” It’s smart to double-check before you double-click as those supposed sale prices might not be a deal at all.