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During the holiday season, the City of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) encourage everyone to be safe and follow these helpful holiday shopping tips.

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  • When you arrive at the shopping center, make sure you remove valuable items from plain view. Take valuables with you or lock them in your glove compartment away from the plain view of someone who might be walking by your car.

  • When you pay for an item at a store, or when using the ATM at the mall, be sure that you get your card and receipt back for your records.  During the holidays, some are in a hurry to get to the next store and often forget to get their card back after paying for an item or using an ATM to get cash.

  • Don’t leave your purse or personal belongings unattended.  Theft is often times categorized as a crime of opportunity - if you leave your belongings unattended, you might be giving someone an opportunity to steal from you. 


Online shopping can also be an area where scam artists prey on individuals during the holiday season.  The City of Indianapolis and IMPD encourage you to follow these simple tips when purchasing items online:

  • Make sure that you frequent sites that feature secure online transactions.  These built in fraud protection safeguards will hinder a hacker’s ability to steal your information.  These sites are denoted by the “s” in the https in the address bar; usually during checkout or time of purchase. 

  • When possible, use credit cards instead of debit cards for online purchases.  The reason?  They are safe and secure, credit cards feature greater fraud protection security than a debit card, and credit cards are not linked directly to your checking account like a debit card is.  A checking account can be compromised resulting in bounced checks, overdraft fees and ultimately a zero balance bank account should your debit card information fall into the wrong hands.

Finally, the City of Indianapolis and IMPD encourage everyone to take these safeguards when using U.S. Mail to deliver packages during the holiday season:

  • When possible, drop off outgoing mail at the post office or at one of the various collection points throughout the city instead of putting it in your personal mailbox for pickup by the mailman. 

  • This will provide a more secure delivery method for your package and will ensure that your gift will make it to its intended recipient.  

For any questions on holiday shopping safety tips, please visit: http://www.indy.gov/eGov/IMPD/Pages/home.aspx or contact IMPD directly at 327-3650.