so much uncertainty about where the economy is going to be next year, and they want to bring in those sales as early as possible. despite inflation, we are seeing consumers continue to have a strong appetite to go ahead and buy this holiday shopping season. we ve got some data, the national retail federation said just this weekend rather from friday to monday, we re going to see 166 million people get out there and shop both online and in store, and you re looking at figures there. sales could reach up to $942 billion before november and december, the shopping season actually ends. alex? yeah. stores opening at dawn. a much more respectable hour. alison kosik in new york. happy thanksgiving to you. thank you. hi there. welcome to a special thanksgiving edition of cnn newsroom. happy thanksgiving to all of you out there. we are thankful that you are
maybe they trade down, buy less expensive gifteds. overall, the national retail federation is expected to get increase in the number of shoppers from last year. the number is $166 million. that s the big number. that s the total number of shoppers from today thanksgiving through monday. cyber monday as its none. you know, if that s what it is, it would be up eight million from last year. more than 2/3s of those surveyed said they plan to shop in some way this weekend. in many cases, they say they re going to do that because they think this is when they ll get the best deals. now tomorrow black friday is still the most popular day of the week end with more people than last year saying that they plan to go out and shop in person. gift cards still top of the list in terms of favorites, which is similar to what we ve seen the last few years. probably if you re buying for children, a gift card might not cut it. so here is the list in terms of top toys this year. there s a boys list and a gi
that s right. charles: retails are not just facing supply problems. crime, shoplifting is wrecking havoc as we enter this busy holiday shopping season. jeff flock has more in new jersey. jeff? it almost doesn t do it justice to call it shoplifting anymore. it s organized crime getting involved in retail theft. that s what happened at this mall in south jersey. a group based in baltimore tried to knock this place over. fortunately they were there to arrest them. this is taking place across the country. take a look at the numbers. 166 million people will be shopping at bricks and mortar over the next several days. a few of those will be shopping without inintended to pay for what they re taking. organized retail crime is up 26%
that s £500 million that was stolen from 200,000 people in just the last year so, within those numbers, investment scams are up 60% to £166 million stolen, romance fraud scams, so not just the financial hit but the emotional hit as well, they are up as well, a 77% increase in the space of a year, to seeing £30 million stolen from just over 3,000 victims. fraud is a big, big problem in the uk. staggering figures. why has it got so bad? criminals, fundamentally, are extremely good at theirjob. they are ruthlessly efficient at manipulating people, they are very good at social engineering, and social engineering is when, for example, they harvest data from people, that people might put up online voluntarily, on social media. also, you might get a scam text, oh, you missed a delivery from royal mail, or here you can get
from 200,000 people in just the last year, so within those numbers, investment scams are up, 60%, to £166 million stolen, romance fraud scams, so not just the financial hit but the emotional hit as well, they are up as well, a 77% increase in the space of a year, to see £30 million stolen from just over 3000 victims. fraud is a big, big problem in the uk. staggering figures. why has it gone so bad? criminals, fundamentally, are extremely good at theirjob. they are ruthlessly efficient at manipulating people, they are very good at social engineering, and social engineering is when, for example, they harvest data from people, that people might put up online voluntarily, on social media. also, you might get a scam text, oh, you missed a delivery from royal mail, or here you can get