Etsy has been in the news after reports surfaced that up to 5% of goods sold on the online “handmade” marketplace are  counterfeits or flaunt copyright restrictions. While other online retailers such as Ebay and especially Alibaba have been dogged by similar allegations for years, it was a surprise to many that Etsy has also potentially fallen victim to counterfeiters looking to exploit online buyers.

While there is no foolproof way to avoid buying a counterfeit item through an e-commerce marketplace, there are a few practical steps one can take to reduce the risk of buying a fake online.

Moms Magazine published some tips from us on keeping your kids safe at the playground. We encourage you to head over to their site and read the article in full, but if you’re pressed for time, here are some of the key insights:

Playground surroundings

Equipment, especially on older playgrounds, can be perilous for your kids. Climbing nets can have holes worn through them, surfaces can be littered with sharp or otherwise dangerous items and equipment can have gaps that cause pinches or worse to little hands and feet.

We covered the outline of that particular scam in a previous blog post. As it relies so heavily on phone contact, you have an advantage if you’re aware that the IRS never demands credit card numbers over the phone. You can simply hang up the phone and ideally report the incident to authorities.

Apple announced today that it will be expanding its phone trade-in program and for the first time allow users of competing smartphones to trade in their devices for a credit towards a new iPhone.

For those who made the switch away from Apple and now have buyer’s remorse, to those whose resistance to the iPhone is crumbling in the face of cool new additions such as Apple Pay and connectivity to the forthcoming Apple Watch, this news is potentially exciting.

2014 was finally the year that Internet and data security became mainstream concerns from the celebrity iCloud hack to the alleged cyber assault by North Korea on Sony Pictures.

Despite the constant headlines about the importance of a strong password, it seems few of us are taking that imperative seriously, based on the just released list of last year’s most popular passwords, compiled by SplashData.

As Fast Company reports, some of the most common passwords are so simple such as “123456” and the perennial favorite “password” that one wouldn’t need a degree in computer science to hack into your computer or cloud storage account.

It should come as no surprise that this time of year is ripe for scams and con artists. The NRF estimates that nearly 20% of all retail sales take place during the holiday months. Anytime there is a flood of money exchanging hands, there will unfortunately be a handful of thieves ready to take advantage.

In addition to the tool utilizing a background check when you have a funny feeling about someone, you should be aware of the following perennial holiday scams to help prevent you from having a Blue Christmas (or Hannuakah, or Kwanza or… Festivus).