Unwrapped: Christmas Costs and Cons
Festive cheer is in the air again; and Christmas lights are illuminating all over the land.
But as many of us prepare for the season of goodwill, what are some of the risks and pitfalls that consumers have to be on their guard against this Christmas?
Martha Keith set up her stationery company - Martha Brook - ten years ago, and it has since grown into a successful business, selling premium stationery products from her office in West London.
One of the company’s most successful products is a stationery advent calendar. And in the runup to Christmas, it’s a best seller.
After launching this year’s calendar in September, it sold out within a week. But then, Martha started to notice something unusual.
Scammers had stolen some of her Instagram reels and TikTok videos and were running them as ads across various social networking sites, sending people to fraudulent websites with her photos on.
Initially, the fraudsters were simply taking people’s money and leaving the customers with nothing to show for it, leading to complaints being directed back to Martha.
But then things took an unexpected turn. Using images of the calendar from the internet, the fraudsters had produced their own low-quality copy of Martha’s product. Customers began receiving the low-quality counterfeit calendar, and complaints followed.
Having spent some time sleuthing online, Martha believes the effort to duplicate her calendar and defraud her customers is being orchestrated from China.
The problem of counterfeit goods being sold online is one that many of us will have to navigate this Christmas. But the risks associated with Christmas shopping don’t end there.
To find out how savvy people really are about keeping themselves safe from online fraudsters, we came to Nuneaton market, with a proposition for the public that was too good to be true. We offered members of the public a free christmas present, for filling in what they thought was an innocent survey about people’s habits on Christmas day.
But what we were really interested in was the ‘about you’ section of the form. This asked for personal data that might be of use to scammers including full name, date of birth, mother’s maiden name and a password.
Our tech experts ZOE EDMEADES from The Security Company International (TSC) and SIMON NICHOLLS Keepnet Labs were waiting in a nearby surveillance van, receiving live updates of what was being entered into the digital form.
Any data participants entered was encrypted, and our tech experts could only see which sections had been filled in, and not the data itself.
Our findings were shocking.
Of the people we tested, not one of them hesitated to give away their personal data in exchange for a glitzy box of chocs.
But beyond the ever present risk of scammers, there are more risks to consumers this Christmas. For many of us, electronic goods will have pride of place on our Christmas lists, but particularly for high powered electronics, the risks can be significant. Ebikes and e-scooters are increasingly popular, but there has been a rise in the number of fires associated with them.
The London fire brigade recently said there had been 155 e-bike fires in 2023, up by 78% from the previous year. We spoke to Giuseppe Capanna from Electrical Safety First who told us how quickly things can go wrong when using an incorrect charger for an ebike battery. His advice was clear; “if you've already got an e-bike or e-scooter and you lose the charger, make sure you go back to the source to buy a replacement charger”.
He emphasised though that ebike technology - when used correctly and when chargers are bought from a reputable supplier - is not inherently unsafe.
But even gifts that seem entirely harmless can present hidden risks. A few years ago, Jacqueline’s husband bought her a hot water bottle for Christmas. It seemed like the perfect gift, but he never imagined it could be the cause of a life changing injury.
After owning the hot water bottle for three years, it split and severely burned her leg.
“I'd have to use crutches cos I couldn't put weight on it because it would swell.. I just couldn't stand the pain.”
She didn’t know that hot water bottles are said to expire after a period of time, and are considered no longer safe.Although there’s no set limit, Trading Standards say that hot water bottles should be replaced two to three years after their first use.
She was unaware that the date that a hot water bottle is manufactured can be found on a so called ‘daisy wheel’ that appears on most hot water bottles. The ‘petals’ of the daisy represent months of the year, whilst the number in the centre of the daisy reveals the year of manufacture.
We asked the people of Nuneaton if they recognised it, and most people we spoke to couldn’t tell us what it meant. So, for those of us looking for a merry yuletide the message is clear. In the midst of your Christmas japes and joy this year - keep your wits about you; for the Cons and Costs of Christmas are never far away.
HELP AND ADVICE
Step Change - UK debt advice service
Christians Against Poverty - provides free accredited debt service