The holidays just may be the most wonderful time of the year for scammers.
As consumers part with their cash to fill stockings and spread cheer, scammers see countless opportunities for deception, theft, and fraud.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation highlights some of their go-to tactics, including failing to ship merchandise you purchased, asking you to pay for items with a pre-paid gift card, and phishing for your personal information.
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These scams may not be different from others that run year-round, but they tend to increase during the holidays.
Jaeson Schultz, technical leader for Cisco Talos Security Intelligence & Research, said that any time there’s an increase in information volume, it “provides good places for criminals to blend in and hide.”
The spike in data means more work for security teams that look for and filter malicious communication, increasing the odds that something may inadvertently slip through.
Consumers may also let their guard down as they hunt for deals. Eager to make convenient purchases for the right price, some may be duped — even on platforms they know and trust, like Ebay and Amazon.
Because scams are so widespread, Schultz recommends using a credit card with fraud coverage when shopping.
Unlike with other types of currency, including cash and debit and pre-paid gift cards, a standard credit card typically offers protection from fraud. Consumers who’ve been deceived into buying fake goods, for example, can ask for and receive a refund.
While it’s impossible to track every type of scam, here are five schemes that should be on your radar:
Deals too good to be true
If you’ve never seen an iPhone or PlayStation for such a low price, it might not be the real thing. These days, scammers can easily take advantage of the holiday shopping frenzy by posting fake listings on pretty much any platform.
Schultz says scammers can simply open a Shopify or Square account and look like a legitimate business or store, or open their own ecommerce outfit on a platform that hosts third-party sellers, like Amazon, TikTok, or Walmart.
They might sell inauthentic merchandise or repackage returned goods and advertise them as brand new. Scammers can even use artificial intelligence to produce compelling phony reviews.
If the deal you’ve spotted seems too good to be true, and you’re not buying it directly from the manufacturer, Schultz recommends pausing and assessing the situation. It may hurt to pass on a bargain-basement price, but you’re likely better off doing exactly that.
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Purchases that never arrive
If you mostly shop online, it can be hard to track what has arrived, and what’s still missing. Even the most organized shoppers can sometimes just forget that they’re expecting a package.
Scammers are counting on the chaos to go undetected as they accept your money for a purchase but then never ship it. The FBI lists this scam as one of the top schemes that holiday shoppers will encounter.
It’s a time-consuming task but try to stay on top of your expected shipments. You can note and follow the tracking progress if you receive a tracking number.
If you purchase an item but never receive the tracking number or the package itself, try contacting the seller first. If you get silence or an unsatisfactory response, consider filing a fraud complaint with your credit card company as well as reporting the seller to the Better Business Bureau.
In addition, you can also publish a truthful but negative review online about your experience, and report the company to your state’s attorney general.
Gift card scams
Gift-card draining scams are a year-round concern but can escalate during the holidays as shoppers hand the convenient presents out to friends, coworkers, and family.
For this scam, a thief physically tampers with a card sold at a retail shop in order to obtain the barcode and PIN, then puts it back on the shelf. Once the card is loaded with cash, they spend the card before the recipient has a chance to enjoy their gift.
If you buy a gift card, inspect the packaging for signs of tampering. Also consider buying gift cards directly from the brand online rather than purchasing them from a third-party retailer.
A different popular gift card scam involves selling goods online and asking for payment via a pre-paid gift card, according to the FBI. Scammers use this transaction to steal the gift card PIN number, with no intention of ever delivering the item you thought you purchased.
The surefire way to avoid this scam? When shopping online, never pay for your purchase with a pre-paid gift card.
Phishing attempts
Scammers know that you are inundated with physical and digital mail and messages during the holidays, which is why you might see more attempts to steal your valuable data. Known as phishing, these tactics are designed to make you think you’ve received a legitimate letter, email, or text message from an important person or institution, like a coworker or your bank.
These messages ask you to click on a link or scan a QR code in order to respond to an urgent message or complete a timely form, for example. Particularly during the holidays these messages may have a tracking number purportedly sent by a shipping company.
The number of emails containing a QR code has increased in the last few years, Schultz says. He notes that scammers have realized they’re an effective way of sending a link to victims, because they can often bypass messaging security systems.
Though the volume of these messages is low compared to other phishing tactics, people unknowingly scan the QR codes and are redirected to a malicious site that captures their personal data, according to Cisco Talos’ research.
Schultz says consumers can lower their risk of being phished by remaining skeptical and wary of unsolicited links and QR codes. If you don’t know where the link or code will take you, don’t click or scan it. Instead, Schultz recommends navigating directly to your desired site.
Fake charities
The San Francisco bureau of the FBI recently warned consumers about fake charities preying on people who want to make a difference during the holiday season.
It recommended being on the lookout for solicitations via phone, email, crowdfunding platforms, and social media. Additionally, people might be duped by copycats attempting to mimic a legitimate charity in order to steal the funds.
If you want to donate to a worthy cause or nonprofit, consider only doing so via the organization’s official website, which matches any profile they may have on a platform like Charity Navigator or the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance.
In general, if you think you’ve been the victim of a scam, the FBI recommends reporting it to law enforcement and to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.