Top holiday scams and how to avoid them | 7 On Your Side
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The financial stakes of holiday scams are huge. Last year, U.S. consumers lost $10 billion, a billion more than the year before.
Gift card fraud, paying for goods you never get, it's endless.
It's Christmas for cybercriminals. With so much money streaming out of our phones on cash apps and shopping, it's like catching fish in a baby pool for the bad guys. They just dangle the bait and they're bound to hook in one of us.
With sophisticated, advanced AI-generated fake websites and phishing tactics: even the most savvy person can get caught in the net.
Here are the top holiday scams to look out for: Fake delivery notifications, social media ads for phony online stores, and fake surveys and giveaways.
On a text notification, there were some red flags. First, notice the number right at the top: +63. That's the country code for the Philippines. If this is really the U.S. Postal Service, you won't be getting a text from another country.
And second, there is a crazy address on the link. There's a dot com in there, but technically, the link ends in "dot t-o-p" so it looks real, but it's not.
These links are designed to infect your phone or trick you into letting someone into your bank account or sending them money.
Some amazing deals popped up on our social media feeds, but they weren't what they seemed.
We have a dirt cheap shark vacuum cleaner from Costco. An online-only clearance sale for purses at Neiman Marcus, and Best Buy is going to send you a $1,000 gift card, just for liking and forwarding the post. Who wouldn't want that...
But a little detective work and that Costco vacuum is ordered from shopysmail and the Neiman Marcus sale is on tplkig.com. And get this: the Best Buy link, says the first 20,000 fans get a $1,000 gift card. That's $20 million! You know Best Buy isn't going to give away $20 million. Clearly, all three of these are fraudulent links.
"Make sure to check the URL. We're hearing from a lot of people on the helpline, where they'll just put in the item that they're looking for into a search engine, and they're being taken to websites that are criminal websites. They'll, of course, always have the product, always in your size, always in your color. You put in your personal information, they'll steal that, and you'll never get the item. So just make sure to always check the URL and always pay by credit card," said Amy Nofziger, the director of Fraud Victim Support at AARP.
An email that appears to be from United Airlines makes an offer but all you have to do is complete a short survey and then claim your prize worth up to $100.
This is called a loyalty or affinity scam, targeting customers or members of a certain group. In this case, United Airlines' frequent fliers, but it could also be a store. And it's an awful fact, but veterans and active military are the most targeted.
Here's the fix: a close look and check it out. The fine print says it is not affiliated with or endorsed by United. There's also a countdown clock, that's just a pressure tactic to reel you in.
Now, in this case, Nina Pineda fell for it! She did get what she ordered, you can see some of the items on the screen but that's the scam. It's a sales tactic that got me to buy yet, has nothing to do with my United membership.
If you want to avoid falling victim to online deceit, don't get Grinched and make these three things part of your everyday life:
- Research the company before making a purchase. A real business should have valid contact information with a working phone number and customer service email. Check it out on Street View on Google or Apple Maps and check for a company profile at bbb.org.
- Second, be skeptical of too-good-to-be-true offers. Ads promising extreme discounts, free products, or limited-time offers may be bait to lure you into a scam.
- Finally, look up reviews on other websites. Read as many as possible that aren't on that same company's webpage. Then run the business name in a trusted search engine to see if anyone has reported the business as fraudulent.
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