The holidays can bring out the best in people, but unfortunately, they can also bring out the absolute worst. With gift-giving season comes holiday scams aimed at separating you from your hard-earned money. These deceivers of the holiday season come in many forms. They can be real people you interact with as you hectically try to scratch people off your gift list or intangible, digital versions hiding behind emails, texts, or social media posts. 

No matter what form you encounter, they are the antithesis of all the holidays stand for. However, you don’t have to become their next victim. With some common sense, insight into their deceptive schemes, and solutions to thwart their tricks, you can avoid their attacks and keep your money securely in your bank account. 

Holiday Scams To Avoid

You may wonder why scammers emerge during the holiday season; in reality, it’s no mystery. They prey upon people’s generosity, stress, excessive purchasing, and holiday cheerfulness to catch them off-guard. They’ll try one or all of these categories to secure money or goods from unsuspecting victims.

Knowing this, it’s up to you to step up your game during the holidays and slow down a bit to avoid many highly preventable scams and deceptive tactics. Don’t take anyone or any organization asking for money at face value, don’t assume you’re safe in public since there are other people around, and don’t allow anyone inside your home or property just because they seemingly have an official uniform on. In short, there is no need to be paranoid; be cautious during the hectic holidays and stay sharp. 

Phishing for a Big Catch

In today’s tech-heavy world, a person’s cellphone is literally at their side nearly 24/7, and as such, it is the perfect receptacle for a scammer’s phishing attempts. These types of scams usually involve either the mention of a large, well-known company, instructions to pursue the location of a lost package in the mail, or your supposed bank account that has been compromised. 

More often than not, these scams hope to incite fear in the recipient, so they will act quickly and hopefully not investigate the “commands” in any great detail. The scammers hope the intended victim will hit the included link or click the “fix now” box. However, they will not fix anything upon doing so; instead, they will allow scammers access to your personal and perhaps financial information. A questioning mindset is all you need to thwart these attempts to separate you from your hard-earned money.

 Look for misspelled words in the message, a complex and random URL from the email sender, or delivery companies you never used. These are red flags you need to notice. Additionally, if you are on the fence about the email or text being legit,  go directly to their official website without using the link provided and contact them to view the actual status of your mailed packages. 

Beware of Gift Cards

The gift card business is booming for many retailers, and they’re also handy for givers as an easy go-to gift when they don’t know what to buy for someone. The primary purpose of a gift card is for “giving,” not as a form of payment, and this is another scam you may encounter during the holidays. If you are shopping online or in person and a retailer asks for payment in gift cards, you should immediately suspect something is a bit fishy. 

Because gift cards are non-refundable, you cannot get your funds back once you pay someone (and realize you have been duped). It equates to handing over cash. Once it passes hands to the scammer, they are gone, and you’re out of both luck and money. The solution to not fall prey to this is simple… don’t pay anything with gift cards. Use credit cards, first and foremost, as they are the best option if it comes down to you disputing your transaction. 

Turn off Your WI-FI

As malls get crowded with shoppers, the coffee shops nearby are also inundated with caffeine-needing individuals. While sitting, it’s only natural for people to browse their cellphones or open their laptops or tablets to help pass the time. However, when doing so, many electronic-obsessed individuals may open the free public Wi-Fi, where the problems start. 

As stated in the disclaimer, when latching onto public networks, the connection is open and may be accessible to others nearby. Those who don’t immediately disconnect may leave themselves open to being hacked by the non-descript person sitting in the far corner of the shop. These hackers are experts at exploiting nearby computers that share public Wi-Fi signals. Once in your system, the skies are the limit with what they can do with all your personal information. 

To prevent this, you don’t use public Wi-Fi. Use your cell phone’s data plan or, if on a laptop, use your phone’s hotspot for a secure connection. If you don’t have either, wait until you’re home for online use. Enjoy your coffee and your surroundings, and you won’t become another hacker’s sucker. 

To Good To Be True

This next one is true all year round, but it becomes much more widespread during the holidays. It’s the old “you won this or that,” so just follow the instructions to redeem it and receive your prize. First off, if you don’t enter a contest, you can’t win. This may seem incredibly obvious, but you would be surprised by how many people ignore this fact and give out their personal information. 

Second, if you are told you won a contest but need to send an “X” amount of money to redeem your prize, you must identify this as a red flag. Winning a prize shouldn’t include payment, no matter how they package their request. Processing, entry, or prize handling fees are all meant to take your money and leave you prize-less in the end. Yes, it feels great to win something, and that emotion is precisely what scammers rely on to orchestrate their con. 

Beating this scam is simple. If you haven’t entered a contest, you can’t win, simple enough. If you did enter and win, then congratulations to you!

Common Sense is Key

Most scams can be avoided by allowing your brain to act rather than your heart. Emotions run high during the holidays, and time seemingly runs down faster every day as the holidays come closer. Just slow down, and don’t be afraid to question anything that may seem fraudulent or suspicious. Investigate charities, double-check emails and texts, and don’t sacrifice safeguards for convenience. You’ll have far less stress by preventing yourself from being scammed rather than falling victim and turning your holiday cheer into a holiday nightmare.