American Press

Many Southwest Louisiana residents are gearing up for Black Friday — a time when stores offer huge deals on limited merchandise and shoppers line up early in hopes of being one of the lucky ones to snag a deal.

But from fistfights to identity theft, shopping for Black Friday sales brings a few safety risks.

As the day creeps closer, State Farm offers these tips to keep your day fun and safe:

• Keep your purse close to your body or your wallet in an inside coat pocket or front pants pocket.
• Don’t argue or fight over an item.
• Don’t take your money out until asked to do so.
• Use only one credit card; should some sort of cyber security breech happen you can reduce the risk of having multiple cards compromised.
• Save your receipts and monitor your credit card activity.
• Refrain from using public Wi-Fi to make purchases, or use a VPN to avoid hackers intercepting your information.
• If shopping with children, select a central location to meet in case you are separated.
• Remember to drive defensively and don’t allow road rage to rise.
• Park your vehicle in a well-lit area.
• Look around and under your vehicle before approaching it.
• Store shopping bags out of plain sight, in your trunk if possible.
• Look for other cars or people, and back out slowly.
• Don’t overload yourself with packages. Thieves are always on the lookout for people who might appear to be distracted.

The bottom line is safety starts with you. One can never be too careful, too prepared or too alert.black-friday-shoppingRick Hickman