Parsippany Police Say Stay Safe When Buying Online

Even in cyberspace, if a deal seems to be too good, it probably is. That's the advice from the Parsippany Police Department for those hoping to score online holiday deals on Cyber Monday, the official start of the Internet holiday shopping season.

Police Ptlm. Earl Kinsey shares the following tips for online shoppers:

• Use trusted vendors that you or friends have used before.
• Always shop with a credit card that is NOT attached to your bank account. This makes it much easier to appeal bad charges without jeopardizing bounced check fees on your automatic bill pay. 
• Before you input your payment information, be sure that the web page is secure before that card number goes in. The page address should start with"https://". The "S" stands for secure.  
• If you are not home during the day, make arrangements with your delivery service to have the package dropped off out of plain sight.
• Many vendors will have a "special instructions" box in the area where you input shipping information. Another alternative is to get the package shipped to the local store of the vendor. Ship to store is also generally FREE. 

Kinsey said to treat cyberspace shopping just as you would real-world shopping--be alert and stay safe.