Online holiday scams are expected to become more rampant as Christmas and New Year kick. Experts warned that people should be more careful when online shopping, especially when the deals are too good to be true.
TOPSHOT - Customers queue outside Selfridges department store ahead of the Boxing Day sale in central London on December 26, 2018. - Troubled UK high-street retailers shed almost 150,000 jobs this year, hit by high business property taxation, flagging growth and rising online sales, a study showed this week. (Photo by Niklas HALLE'N / AFP)
Now, AARP released a new study revealing how online scammers affected many residents in the United States. Based on research, online fraudsters tried to fool around 229 million Americans back in 2020.
This means that 9 out of 10 individuals were targeted by these fraudsters. On the other hand, USA Today recently published a tech podcast that explains how these online scams happen during the holiday season.
How to NOT Become Online Holiday Scam Victim
The latest podcast episode of Brett Molina, one of the trending news reports of USA Today, explained that the first sign of an online holiday scam offers gift cards.
A woman uses a laptop on April 3, 2019, in Abidjan. - According to the figures of the platform of the fight against cybercrime (PLCC) of the national police, nearly one hundred crooks of the internet, were arrested in 2018 in Ivory Coast, a country known for its scammers on the web, has announced on April 2, 2019 the Ivorian authority of regulation of the telephony. (Photo by ISSOUF SANOGO / AFP)
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Cybercriminals' malicious websites usually allow you to pay in gift cards to purchase a holiday item. An 80 years old woman experienced this malicious scheme, taking around $13,000 from her.
So, if someone contacts you offering a product that can be purchased with gift cards, then the best thing you can do is decline the offer since there's a high chance that it is a scam.
Experts suggested that you need to block the number or delete the email message as soon as possible so that you will no longer have a chance to have a second thought. Remember, avoiding scams is easier compared to regaining stolen money.
Other Things You Can Do
CNET Provided some tips on how you can avoid becoming one of the online holiday victims. These include the following:
- Avoid availing overly spammy pitches. Always check if the grammar is correct.
- Be careful when purchasing items from small businesses, especially if the product is not available in giant retail or online stores.
- Try limiting your spending by using only a single credit card and email address when shopping online during Christmas or New Year.
In other news, 4,400 phone numbers were leaked after Robinhood's database was hacked. On the other hand, NCSC's new cybersecurity report warned about the evolving ransomware attacks.
For more news updates about online scams and other security threats, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.
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Written by: Griffin Davis
