If you're one of the nearly 39 million consumers the National Retail Federation expects will do their holiday shopping online this year, then listen up! Use your street smarts in the virtual marketplace and follow these basic online shopping tips to protect yourself and to ensure that your money doesn't become part of the $3.6 billion that merchants expect to lose this year to online fraud by spammers, scammers and shifty retailers.

Here are five tips for staying safe online this holiday season (and the rest of the year too):
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