A Guide to Avoiding the Most Popular Holiday Scams: We Want You to Be Safe!
As Christmas gets closer, scammers get more active. Just in the past week, we received several emails from people who were scammed and asked us for help cleaning up the bad guys’ leftovers. The others fell for other kinds of scams.
Those of you who have been with us for a while know that we care about you and do all we can to keep you informed so you will be safer on the internet. There are more scams now than ever before, and this being the Christmas Holiday season means the scammers are out in full force to take advantage of the Holiday spirit of love and trust.
But we don’t want you to be a victim of any kind of scam. Be it a tech support scam, a telephone scam, the Amazon package scam, a “romance” scam, or any of the other seemingly endless scams that are out there.
The FBI has a very well-written and informative website describing many different types of scams including holiday scams. You should visit and bookmark the FBI’s scam warning site. It’s full of information to help you stay safe during the holiday season and all year long. Click this link to visit the FBI’s scam warning site (the link will open in a new browser tab so you won’t lose your place here).
Also, we’re featuring an article from BestLife that we want you to read because to be informed is to be forewarned. It will help you avoid becoming a victim of many of the most popular scams going on during this Christmas season. The more informed you are, the safer you’ll be and the less likely the chances are that you’ll be a victim of a scam.
FBI Issues New Warning About the Latest Scams Designed to “Steal Your Money”
CRIMINALS ARE TRYING TO TAKE EVEN LARGER AMOUNTS FROM YOU THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.
Scams are rampant during the holiday season, and anyone who has fallen for one knows they can be as frustrating as they are costly. Local and federal authorities are constantly issuing alerts when new criminal tactics surface, but the current cons are trickier than ever. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) just issued a warning about the latest holiday scams, which are designed to steal your money—and lots of it. Read on to find out about the cons the FBI wants you to be on the lookout for, and how to keep yourself safe.
Some holiday scams use your deliveries as bait.
The holiday season is particularly rife with fraud attempts, and this certainly isn’t the first warning that officials have given to the public.
Earlier in December, police in Leander, Texas, issued a warning about a new package delivery scam, ABC-affiliate KVUE reported. Scammers pose as delivery companies, sending you a message to say that your package was undeliverable. The text also includes a link to “change your address,” which actually allow thieves to steal your personal information.
A similar scam emerged in Blacksburg, South Carolina, where a police officer was targeted. Officer Shahna Blanton of the Blacksburg Police Department told CBS-affiliate WSPA that she got a text about an undeliverable package. She was waiting on a delivery, but the text included a major red flag—it asked her to pay for re-delivery. “Which is not a thing,” she said. “Obviously, I backed out of all that and closed it out.”
These package scams are crafty, but by calling the company you ordered from, you should be able to resolve the issue quickly. However, a new scam costs you more time—as well as more money—the FBI says.
Scammers are using a different tactic for a larger payout.
The FBI field office in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is warning residents about a scam tactic with a bizarre name: “pig butchering.” According to the agency, the investment scam “is heavily scripted and contact intensive.”
Read the rest of this article here.
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