Holiday shoppers keep safety in mind while finding big deals

BILOXI, MS (WLOX) - The holiday shopping season is officially underway. Hundreds lined up for big deals at Edgewater Mall Friday morning. The deals may have been good, but shoppers also have an eye on safety this holiday.

For many, it’s a holiday tradition, lining up overnight to get the best deals on Black Friday. Whether they are buying things for themselves, or gifts for others, people like Tyler Crane are making safety a priority.

“The main thing that I would do is pay attention to your surroundings,” Crane said. “Any suspicious person, kind of keep an eye on them.”

Ashlen Johnson and her mom have made an annual outing out of Black Friday.

“My mother and I, we do Black Friday every year, and we only come out on Friday,” Johnson said. “We don’t do Thursday, we just do Friday.”

She thinks it's important to be smart about shopping with so many people out and about.

“We definitely, when we’re out and around the mall, we try to keep our items close to us, just in case,” Johnson said. “And then always in the trunk. Never put your items in the back seat because anybody walking by can see that, and they don’t know what they see but they think, ‘Ooh, I want that.’”

Beth Maldonado and her sister enjoy Black Friday, even if there is a lack of caffeine.

“We go for the coffee first, and that’s another thing,” Maldonado said. “There’s not enough coffee stands open but then the shopping getting ready for Christmas.”

She believes there are enough security guards and police officers to keep shoppers safe.

“We look around, and it looks like they do have a lot of people here, they have the security going around,” Maldonado said. “So that’s what makes it safe.”

Some of the other tips shoppers had included shopping in a group and only carrying enough cash for what you plan to purchase.

For those of you shopping online, Lifelock.com identity theft tips include shopping at websites you trust, avoid public WiFi while shopping, pay with a credit card for the best liability protection and check you statements for purchases you may not have made.

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