South Snohomish County Crime Watch Hot Sheet: HOLIDAY SCAMS

Friday, December 3, 2021

HOLIDAY SCAMS – BBB’s 12 Scams of Christmas

Scammers want your money or your personal information. The Christmas holiday season gives them plenty of opportunity to collect both. Recently, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) published the 12 top holiday scams that it has observed. A short summary of each follows. For more information about each, check out the link to the BBB posting below.

1. Misleading Social Media Ads. The BBB reports that this is the most reported scam on its Scam Tracker service. Scammers have been using social media to pose as a small business with items for sale or an offer of a free trial. People complain that they pay for items that they never receive. Or they get charged for a “free trial” that they never signed up for. Other complaints include receiving counterfeit products or products different from what they ordered. BBB recommends checking out businesses before doing business with them. You can look up businesses at www.BBB.org or do a web search on the business name (business name with the word scam or complaints).

2. Gift Exchanges. The latest version of this scam is about exchanging bottles of wine. Another version suggests purchasing $10 gifts online. And there is a version that encourages you to add your email address to a list where participants pick a name and send money to strangers to “pay it forward.” The gift exchange scams are a good way to collect your personal information as well as the personal information of your family and friends. And, the BBB points out, they are illegal pyramid schemes.

3. Holiday Apps. Holiday apps offer experiences such as live video chats with Santa for children, lighting a menorah, watching Santa feed live reindeer, tracking Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve, or sending holiday wish lists to Santa. Scammers can set up apps to collect your personal information or make offers to take your money. Review app privacy policies. Free apps can contain more advertising than apps that require a fee. Also, be wary of free apps since they can contain malware.

4. Alerts About Compromised Accounts. Scammers often send text messages, emails, or make phone calls posing as a bank, Amazon, Paypal, etc. claiming that they have detected suspicious activity on your account. You are encouraged to contact the business by clicking on a link or calling an included number. DO NOT click on the included link or call the phone number. If you want to check out the claim, call the business by looking up their number with a web search, on a bill or statement, or on the back of its credit/debit card.

5. Free Gift Cards. Scammers send phishing emails claiming that you are eligible for free gift cards or have been selected to receive free gift cards. All you have to do is to give them some of your personal information. The scammers often impersonate legitimate businesses such as Starbucks. They also use pop-up ads and text messages. The best approach is to ignore unsolicited emails or text such as this.

6. Temporary Holiday Jobs. Many businesses are looking for holiday workers. However, scammers use the lure of a temporary holiday job to collect personal information or to steal your money. Be wary of any job offer that seems too good to be true, or that charges you to apply for the job.

7. Look-alike Websites. Scammers often impersonate legitimate businesses and governmental agencies. They can build a website that looks just like a real company’s website or send a phishing email that looks like it is from an authentic business. When navigating to a company’s website, be sure to check out the web address to be sure it is authentic. Before clicking on any links in an email, hover your cursor over the link to see the real web address of the link.

8. Fake Charities. The holidays are a prime time for scammers to impersonate charities as we all think about giving to those in need. The BBB recommends avoiding quick decisions to give to any charity. It also recommends that you check out a charity before giving. You can look up charities at the BBB’s www.give.org website or the Washington State Secretary of State’s Corporations and Charities Division’s website- https://ccfs.sos.wa.gov/#/.

9. Fake Shipping Notifications. With the high traffic of packages being shipped in this holiday season, scammers are sending out phishing emails and text messages claiming that there is a problem with your shipment and to clear it up you need to click on the link. Instead of clicking on the link in the email or text message, go directly to the web site of the shipper.

10. Pop Up Holiday Virtual Events. Many holiday markets or craft fairs have migrated online. Scammers create fake events or impersonate real events with fake web pages, social media posts, and emails. They may charge admission for what is normally a free event. Check any web addresses for their legitimacy. If you see an event that used to be free charging admission, ask the real-life organizer if they are really charging a fee.

11. Top Holiday Wishlist Items. With the current supply chain problems, highly popular gifts will be more difficult to find. Scammers take advantage of the situation by claiming they have scarce gifts and even may claim to charge a price that is too good to be true.

12. Puppy Scams. Puppies were popular during the pandemic. And puppy scams were just a popular with fraudsters. Be sure that you can see the prospective pet in person before buying.