Still shopping for the holidays? Do it the smart and safe way with these tips from the Federal Trade Commission:

• Pay with a credit card Credit cards offer the strongest protections against fraudulent or neglectful merchants. And never purchase from an online seller who requests payment in the form of a gift card or a money transfer from a company like Western Union. Those sellers are always scammers, who use those methods because the payments are next to impossible to trace and reverse.
• Check your URL When you go to check out at an online merchant’s website, make sure the site offers a secure connection. The address in your browser’s location bar should begin with https, not just http. Many browsers make it easy by including a lock icon or similar symbol to indicate that a site is secure:

  

• Keep records It doesn’t have to be complicated, but if you’re ordering a lot, it’s a good idea to keep a list of everything you’ve purchased and to periodically update it as shipments are successfully delivered. If a package gets lost and you don’t realize it until the new year, it may be too late to get a refund.

More tips from the FTC here and here. Share these with family, friends, and of course, customers! If you or someone you know does encounter a fraudulent operation, you can report it at reportfraud.ftc.gov.