Another winter holiday season has rolled around, and shoppers are opening their wallets to buy food, decorations and gifts. The National Retail Federation predicts that winter holiday spending this year will set a record high of about 980 billion dollars. Most of this money will be spent on gifts. And some 57 percent of us will do our holiday shopping on-line.
But on-line shopping attracts fraudsters like catnip.
Each year KSFR reaches out to AARP fraud expert Amy Nofziger to help our listeners navigate the latest holiday shopping scams. Here’s what we learned:
· Gift cards are susceptible to fraud—scammers can obtain the empty cards from racks, empty the numbers/pins and then put the cards back. The minute the consumer loads money onto the cards, thieves can drain those cards of funds, leaving the recipient with nothing. To combat this scheme, always buy cards as close to the check-out register as possible and examine them closely for tampering. Better yet, send e-gift cards.
· Fake shipping notices happen when a scammer pretends to be the US Post Service, UPS, Fed Ex etc. The con artist then texts or calls you to say the package can’t be delivered without additional financial information or even your Social Security number. Genuine shippers or vendors will give you information, not ask yours.
· Porch pirates follow delivery trucks and then steal packages right off the premises. If you’re not going to be at home, ask the vendor to delay your shipping or ask a neighbor to watch for your package.
· Phony or unreputable charitable solicitations often rely on emotional pitches to givers. Before giving, do your research and check out charities at charitynavigator.org or give.org.
· Travel scams are often “too good to be true” bargain offers for trips. Type the name of the company into your search engine plus the word “scam” to see if the business is real or has problems. Deal with reliable travel agents and pay only by credit card.
· Fake retail sites lure consumers onto their sites with promises of cheap prices on hot ticket items. It’s likely these schemers do not have these products; they just want your credit card number. Deal only with tried-and-true retailers.
In the event you fall victim to a holiday shopping scam, stop any communication with the scammer, report incidents to your bank or credit card company and local law enforcement. Call the AARP Fraud Watch Network at 877-908-3360 for assistance.
Music for this story is “Jingle Bells Music Box” by Kris Harmony, CC BY-SA.
