Is your holiday shopping putting you at risk? Beware of smishing, phishing, skimmers, scammers & fakes
Protect Yourself From Holiday Shopping Scams
Gift cards are for gifts. Period. Gift cards should only be “spent” at the business where they were designed to be used. Utility companies, law enforcement and government agencies won’t accept gift cards as a form of payment for overdue bills or fines. Be mindful of where you buy your gift cards - you don’t want to give a fraudulent card or one that has already been stripped of its value. Always make sure you get the activation receipt from the retailer where you purchase the card.
Hang up/disconnect. Hang up on the scammer. Disconnect your computer from the Internet.
Contact your financial institution. Call the number on the back of your debit/credit card and let them know what’s happened. If caught quick enough, they may be able to halt the transaction and freeze the fraudsters out.
Place a fraud alert. Contact the credit bureaus and let them know you’ve been a victim of financial fraud, need a fraud alert placed to bring heightened attention to any out of the ordinary purchases/attempts at opening lines of credit in your name.
Report credit card fraud/identity theft to The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) online at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov
For more financial education information, visit www.dfi.wa.gov/financial-education or contact the Department of Financial Institutions at 877-RING-DFI (746-4334). Visit https://dfi.wa.gov/news/alerts to learn more about the types of potentially fraudulent activity Washington’s financial services regulator is seeing in our state.
By Lyn Peters
‘Tis the season for shoppers to pack malls, open markets, and a variety of holiday attractions. It’s also the season for thieves to do what they do best - use a variety of tactics to steal from unsuspecting consumers.
Here are a few tips to help keep your holiday fun funds safe: Keep all cards with RFID chips embedded in them in an RFID protector sleeve.
Tap and go payment devices are so convenient - for shoppers and businesses wanting to move lines faster. But it’s also super convenient for thieves. Thieves have found ways to disguise these devices to be inconspicuous in crowds. This allows them to bump into people’s purses and wallets - and read their credit and debit cards with RFID chips - without anyone knowing...until later when their bill arrives with charges they don’t recognize.
Be wary of incoming texts or emails that look like they’re from your financial institution, Amazon, USPS/UPS/FedEx telling you your package is delayed, lost, or that there is a problem with your account.
Never click on the links or call the numbers included. Instead, go to the number on your card, statement or in your account where you ordered the item. The websites in the links may look legitimate, but the URL won’t be - it may have a 1 instead of an i or an @ instead of an a. Some links may also actually download malware or keyloggers, allowing criminals access to anything you type/enter - every password and account number.
These texts and emails - known as smishing and phishing - usually have a message indicating urgency and use psychology and fear to make people click or call. Once you’ve taken their bait, they’re going to try to get you to give up account details, your social security number, or your checking or savings account information.
One current scam tells the consumer there is a problem with their checking and/or savings accounts, and they
need to move all of the money from their trusted financial institution account into a crypto account to be transferred into a new institution account once it’s been set up. Once the money is in the crypto account, however, communication stops and the thieves have everything you’ve ever saved.
Sign up for USPS Informed Delivery so you’ll know what to expect in the mail - and whether your mail may have been stolen.
Verify any charity with the Secretary of State Give Smart Charity Checker before donating.
Freeze your credit. You can still use your credit cards, but no one can open a new line of credit in your name/with your SSN.
Direct online deliveries to a locker
box or have some way for delivery persons to hide them on your porch to deter porch pirates.
Sign up to be notified when your ordered items are delivered. Many a present has gone ungiven due to thieves gathering gifts delivered while residents are away or not watching.
While there is no way to be 100% safe and secure from fraud, you can limit your exposure greatly by taking a few simple precautions. Don’t let someone else spend your holiday shopping money or give your thoughtfully ordered gifts to someone else.
Volcano Guest Contributor Lyn Peters is the Director of Communications, Financial Education & Outreach with the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions. CommunicationDir@dfi.wa.gov 360-902.8731