A shopping spree is a carefree outing to purchase goods, often associated with overspending. It can be enjoyable but can also lead to scams and fraud, exploiting the desire for carefree shopping.
A shopping spree denotes a playful and “hell it may matter” attitude in a single shopping spree where a lot of money is spent. A spree can be defined as a carefree or leisurely outing, in search of purchasing goods. Often the term is used in a derogatory sense, to comment on the overspending of individuals or companies. For example, it was used in a 2003 headline to refer to three German teenagers who managed to spend around 130 million euros (about 166 million US dollars (USD)) in just under two hours, using stolen credit cards . Planes and artwork were among their purchases.
In this sense, the revelry obviously resulted in arrests and, however lighthearted, it certainly cannot be described as pleasant for those who stole the money. More traditional shopping might take place when someone needs to buy many things at once, such as for vacation shopping. People with ample means could certainly spend a great deal of money on gifts.
On programs detailing the lives of celebrities, information is sometimes provided about celebrity spending sprees that result in tens of thousands of dollars spent in minutes. For most people, such a shopping trip is well outside the normal income limits. Indeed, spending excessive amounts of money that you don’t actually have is more the act of a compulsive shopper. Where there is time and money available, however, a trip to the shops to buy items that are not strictly necessary can be a lot of fun.
This, unfortunately, has been exploited by Internet scammers and telemarketers. Internet sites may offer a gift card worth several hundred dollars in exchange for a small payment or personal information. The card is either useless or never shipped. Instead the person loses their money or has their identity, bank account or credit card numbers stolen. These types of scams can lead to people losing thousands of US dollars.
In 2006, the US Federal Trade Commission was able to freeze the accounts of many of the perpetrators. As people enjoy the occasional purchase, many fall victim to such scams. Fraudsters have exploited the consumer’s desire for carefree shopping, and many are still trying to recoup their losses.
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