With the holiday season swiftly approaching, it’s important for consumers to be vigilant about online scams. Unfortunately, about 70 percent of consumers don’t know how to stay safe from common holiday scams, and many engage in risky behaviors that could see them fall prey to fraudsters.
Below are a few common tricks to watch for while you’re watching for the first sign of snow (or if you’re in a warmer climate, the first holiday jingles to be played in the stores).
Scam 1: Fake apps
As consumers increasingly browse holiday deals on their phones, criminals are catching up with the new shopping trend. Phony apps, disguised as free games or shopping apps, are designed to steal personal information from your phone, tablet or computer.
What to do: Only purchase apps from app stores like the iTunes App Store or the Google Play Store. Most retailers and big brands will list all their approved apps on their official website. Be sure to check their sites before downloading an app from an unknown source. If the app you’re considering seems questionable, search third-party reviews online, because there is a good chance someone who downloaded it before you might have commented about it.
Another telltale sign of a fake app is asking for a lot of permissions to gain access to your photos, contacts, location or social media profiles. Be cautious if this happens, because generally apps don’t need to access your contacts or images in order for you to buy something from them.
Scam 2: Work-from-home scams
Who wouldn’t want some extra cash to help fund their holiday shopping this year? You might see ads for work-from-home jobs online and think, “Wow, here’s an easy way to make some extra cash.”
The truth is, opportunities for you to make extra money while working at home exist, but some ads for lucrative work-from-home jobs could be scams. What usually happens is that fraudsters market a bogus job and ask candidates to pay upfront costs for instructions or products. Often, these jobs have a very low bar, saying no experience is required. You might also be asked to fill out a form that requests personal information, such as your Social Security number. Rather than send you work materials or further instructions, the fraudsters take your cash or personal info.
What to do: Before you sign up for any work-from-home opportunities, run a quick web search of the company or the person who has contacted you and see if any fraud has been reported before.
Think twice before providing personal information or making a payment. Don’t give away your personal information to any company if it has no real web footprint, or if its site seems haphazard and poorly constructed.
You also might try checking out a company with your local consumer protection agency, your state attorney general or the Better Business Bureau.
Scam 3: Gift cards
One of the hottest holiday gift choices in the U.S.—the simple gift card—is hardly safe from scammers.
Scams involving gift cards come in different forms. A common scam is that thieves secretly scan or simply write down the serial numbers off the cards from in-store racks. Later, they check on whether the cards have been bought and what the balances are. As soon as a card is activated, the crooks drain money off it.
Another increasingly common form of fraud involves scammers asking for money via iTunes gift cards. They might pose as debt collectors, or as representatives with the IRS or area hospitals. In any of these guises, they’re demanding money, and fast. And, they say, they’re willing to take a gift card.
What to do: This one is fairly cut and dried. Never trust someone who demands payment via gift cards. Purchase cards online directly from the retailers or via reputable exchange sites like Gift Card Granny or Cardpool. If you get targeted by a scam like this, report it to the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov/complaint.
Scam 4: Online scams
Don’t be duped by fake websites set up by fraudsters to steal your personal and financial information. Criminals often use misleading shopping sites or market unrealistic deals to lure customers in. When the customer goes to check out, they may not realize that fraudsters are capturing their personal information—like name, address, and credit card data.
What to do: The FBI advises consumers to stay away from unfamiliar retail sites, be mindful of social media posts that offer vouchers or gift cards, and avoid opening suspicious emails or hypertext links. Scamawareness.org, a nonprofit organization, suggests making sure that a site URL begins with “https” when you are entering payment information for a purchase—this is an indication that the website is secure.
