MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Holiday shopping is underway for many Americans and according to a recent survey from Capital One, they\’ll once again be doing much of their buying online. The survey found that while more than half (55 percent) of shoppers plan to go to a mall or local stores to buy their gifts, a large number (36 percent) will be searching and buying online. However they plan to shop, consumers are keeping fraud top-of-mind as they make their holiday purchases due to the data breaches experienced at various retailers this year. While neither mode of shopping is immune to fraud, there are steps consumers can take to protect themselves as they hustle and bustle.

Oil and gas companies drilling on federal lands have avoided paying in excess of $380 million in royalties on the gas they have extracted over the past eight years. That’s a lot of money and it could be a lot more, because it’s based on self-reported data provided by the oil and gas industry. And that’s a lot of gas. By the American Natural Gas Alliance standards, the amount of royalty-free gas either consumed as fuel or lost by operators would be enough to meet the needs of every household in the State of New York for a year.