This holiday season Christine S. wanted to get her husband a new truck.
The couple live in Pennsylvania and their truck was having mechanical issues, so Christine thought it would be a great early Christmas gift.
But the special gift quickly turned into a nightmare.
You see, Christine started by looking for trucks online via social media.
She found a truck and reached out to the seller through the social media app.
According to Christine, the seller was friendly and convincing.
However, the seller asked for a fee to hold the truck for Christine.
She was so excited to get the truck for her husband and to surprise him when he came home, so Christine followed the seller’s instructions.
“They told me I had to go to a store and get an Apple card for $300,” Christine said.
So, she bought the gift card and sent the code to the truck seller.
Soon after, the seller stopped communicating with Christine, and when Christine checked the gift card there was no money on it.
Eventually, the seller of the truck did respond to Christine, telling her they needed more money to hold the vehicle.
That’s when Christine realized it was all a scam and reported it to the police.
“They said it’s probably overseas, and I probably won’t see my money,” she said.
Christine said she will be spending a little less money this year during the holiday season after being scammed.
And now, with the holiday shopping season in full swing, there is no question there are going to be more scams.
According to the National Retail Federation, Americans are expected to spend over $989 billion this year.
Scammers will be looking to take advantage of holiday shoppers.
With this in mind, here are a few of the more common holiday scams you might see this season.
Exploiting brand names:
According to McAfee Threat Research, there has been a 33% increase in websites targeting consumers with fake brand names.
During the holiday season, many consumers are looking at buying brand-name products as gifts.
Most people don’t want to come across as being cheap when it comes to giving gifts.
However, consumers still look for the best deals on those brand-name products.
And scammers leverage this to dupe people.
So, if you find an incredible deal on a brand-name item it could be a sign it’s a scam.
Handbags and footwear:
Two of the most common fake items during the holiday season are handbags and footwear.
These are things that people love to give as gifts, so criminals prey on this.
During the holiday season, there will be more websites popping up claiming to sell brand names like Adidas and Louis Vuitton.
But if you want to buy these types of items it’s best to get them from the company themselves.
You might pay a little bit more, but it’s worth it to ensure you are getting a legitimate item.
Just because you can save a few bucks by getting it from a third-party website it’s not worth the risk.
Avoid auction websites:
This time of year, there is often an increase in auction-type websites that claim to offer overstocked items that need to be sold in a hurry.
The issue is that these websites don’t let you physically inspect the products, and the prices can easily be manipulated by the seller.
Also, even if the website is legitimate the auctioned items are there for a reason.
This could be because they have been previously returned, are defective, or a clever fake.
So, while you might find a great deal on an auction website it comes with risks.
The National Retail Federation estimates that shoppers will spend an average of $900 per person this holiday season.
And you can be assured that hackers and savvy criminals will be looking to take advantage anyway they can.
While you’re protecting yourself from malicious fraudsters, you need to also protect your private and financial information from getting stolen online.
At bare minimum you need to use a VPN when you’re surfing the web.
