The holiday is a great time for shoppers and retailers … and scam artists.
With many consumers desperate to find the perfect holiday gift, or get the best possible deal, crooks are out in force with scams meant to tempt even the most cautious people.
Holiday scams prey both on people’s good will and on the holiday rush, hoping potential targets won’t look too closely at what appears to be a great bargain.
Here is the AARP’s list of the Top 7 Holiday Scams:
- Shopping Setups: Fake websites promising hot deals that simply collect personal data that can later be used for identity theft, or install malware on computers. Take care to use only legitimate websites.
- Gift Card Gotchas: Scammers scan gift cards on display in stores and then wait for the card to be activated so they can use the balance first. Buy gift cards from customer service counters, not racks.
- Courier Cons: Fake emails claiming to be from major delivery services telling you they are trying to deliver a packages. Links in the emails install malware. Verify emails by calling the delivery company directly — with a phone number from its actual website.
- Greet Card Cheating: Emailed cards from unknown people can contain viruses and other nasty surprises. If you don’t recognize the name, don’t open it or click on any links.
- Mobile app scams: Download apps only through well-known vendors. Some are fakes designed to ferret out your personal information and hand it over to scammers.
- Travel scams: If a travel deal sounds to good to be true … it almost certainly is.
- Charity Cons: Beware of emails purportedly from charities. Many fake charities use names that sound like the real organizations, but aren’t. Always check on an organization’s legitimacy before making a donation.
You can read more about the AARP’s list of Top 7 Holiday Scams, here.
