Protect Yourself from these Five Holiday Scams

Podcast Transcription:

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According to a survey done by Experian in 2020, one in four Americans reported that they were a victim of identity theft or fraud during the holiday season. Scammers are getting smarter and trickier and right when you think you know what to look for, they try something new to get your information. Especially during the holidays when people are online shopping and feeling charitable. I’m going to share with you some common scams to look out for during the holiday season as well as how to protect yourself so you don’t become a victim. So here are my top five scams that I found are really common during the holiday season.

So the first one is charity scams. Scammers know that people are generally feeling really charitable around the holidays. It’s a very giving time of year and scammers know that and they take advantage of it. Fake charities are set up and scammers pocket the profit from people that think they’re donating to a charity so just be cautious when you’re looking to donate, go through a reputable site or an organization that you know and you’ve heard of and you’ve done your research.

Number two’s scam is delivery and shipping scams. Scammers know that around the holidays people are online shopping, they’re looking for tracking on their packages and even not just during the holidays, I mean, this is year round, people are online shopping more than ever. So scammers send out phishing emails- these are emails that look like they’re coming from legitimate places in order to get your information. So a lot of times these shipping scams will look like they’re coming from UPS or FedEx or the postal service with a link in them to check the tracking on your package. With many shoppers buying things online, they may not think twice about clicking that link to check where their package is at. Take that tracking number and go out to your browser to the UPS or FedEx site and copy and paste it there. These links can download malware onto your computer, they can ask for information, personal information that these scammers are looking for that UPS or FedEx would not ever need to know. So it’s better to get your tracking number from your initial email and go out to the site separately and enter it that tracking number into the site.

The third scam is the travel scam. People travel over the holidays. Be careful of fake booking sites and emails that offer deals that probably look too good to be true. Go to sites that you trust, look out for those emails that offer you those crazy deals and they really draw you in, I mean, I get those a lot. You just have to trust your gut, go to the site that you trust and go through that.

The fourth one is very specific to the holiday season and that’s the letter from Santa scam. This one I’ve never heard of before but it totally makes sense. Some criminals might pretend to be a trusted business that will send out personalized letters from Santa and in order to do this, you have to send them your personal information. I know this is something that I’m sure as my kids get older they would love to do this, it really is a cool idea, you just need to be careful with what information you’re giving out to these businesses and checking that they are legitimate.

And the last one is online shopping. Scammers will often advertise expensive products at extremely discounted prices or with special coupons. Some sites might have products at decent pricing but then you don’t get the product that was advertised. Maybe it’s cheaply made or it’s not even the same product or maybe you won’t get it at all. If you’re not sure, even talk to a friend or family member and see what they think. Sometimes stepping back and having someone else look at something can be really helpful.

Now that we’ve covered a lot of the popular scams that happen during the holidays, let’s go over some ways that you can protect yourself and I mentioned some of these when I was going over the scams but I cannot reiterate enough these things that you can do to protect your information.

Number one is do your homework. Check to make sure that a business or website is legitimate before doing any business with them or entering payment information. You can do this by checking reviews, by checking if they have a physical address and contact information so make sure both of those things are listed. You can also check the Better Business Bureau website. This is an awesome resource to check if a business is legitimate or not.

Okay, the next one is with emails. Do not click on any links in emails that you are not expecting. If it contains a tracking link for something you ordered, it’s safe to take that tracking number and enter it directly into the UPS or FedEx site rather than clicking on any links. Look for things like spelling mistakes, poor grammar, anything that sounds threatening such as they’re not going to send you your package if you don’t fill out this information, we’re going to cancel your account if you don’t give us this amount of money that you owe us. If you’re unsure about an email, a simple phone call to that person or to that company to ensure that it’s safe is an easy way to not fall victim. So if you just, if it looks like it’s coming from a friend or a business, give them a call say hey did you send this, does this make sense for something for your business to send to me and if not, you can just delete that email and you have protected your information.

And the next one is pretty simple, use a credit card when shopping online, not a debit card. Especially if you’re on public Wi-Fi network, I encourage you not to online shop on public Wi Fi because it’s very easy for scammers to get into those networks and hack your information. And debit cards are connected directly to your bank account. So if you use a credit card at least your money is safe and credit card charges can easily be disputed and taken off of your account.

Next, keep an eye for fake posts on social media. We talked about fake emails, also look for those fake posts on social media. Social media can be huge one that fake businesses can easily post on there with these awesome deals and discounts and you click the link, you fill out your information or you buy something that looks like a good deal but you never get your product so just watch out for those.

Make, with charities, make charitable donations directly to the organization. Go directly to their website or even better, if you can do it in person, that’s a great option. And try to avoid donating cash.  If you donate cash, that’s going to be nearly impossible to get back. There was a story I heard several months ago that there was a scammer, and it wasn’t holiday related but they had set up donation jars at several businesses that claimed to be raising money for a certain cause and they were actually just getting the money for themselves. And you know, you see those donation jars, you drop your couple dollars in it assuming you’re donating to a good cause, we all assume that people mean well but in reality it was a scammer who wanted that money for themselves. It’s best to avoid that if you can get a phone number or information to donate in a different way, that’s a lot safer and then that way you also have a record of the donation, you have a paper trail rather than just donating that cash.

And the last tip I have for keeping your information safe is to trust your gut. If something seems off or seems too good to be true, you’re probably right in your thinking. Trust your instincts, follow up to make sure you’re dealing with legitimate businesses, charities and emails. It’s always better to be safe than sorry. Hackers and criminals are everywhere and they are smart so just protect yourself. Do what you feel like you need to do to keep your information safe. An extra couple of minutes to do your research can save you a ton of time and money

Alright, and with that, that is all I have for you for this episode of Money Talk. I hope this was helpful for you to get through your holiday season happy and healthy and I truly hope that you have wonderful  holiday season.

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