Scammers Find Opportunity on Cyber Monday

‘Tis the season for scammers to prey on you- and with so many people searching for gifts- and especially deals, the opportunity for scammers is opening. There are four things consumers need to watch for this holiday; too-good-to-be-true deals, fraudulent websites, counterfeit products and items that are never received. In addition, with all the buy now pay later and payment app options- there’s a whole new category of fraud happening that will be amplified this holiday. The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) says people in the U.K. lost ￡15.3 million during the holiday shopping period last year. Those losses often came for large purchases, averaging ￡1,000.?

The first way to avoid falling victim to these scams is to keep your guard up. Don’t click on direct links when ads pop -up. Type in the URL yourself to make sure you are not being sent to a scam website. Scam sites often look and seem real, but the URL may be off by one letter. If the website is a reseller of items or a store you are unfamiliar with, do your due diligence. Check all the pages, not just the one for the item advertised. Broken links can be a sign the website is not real. Also, look for feedback and reviews from trusted sources. When using a third-party app to purchase items, such as Facebook Marketplace or Amazon, stay within the app. Scammers often try to lure their victims to a place where they can control the transaction. And above all trust your gut. If something doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t!?

You can protect yourself in any purchase by using your credit card instead of a bank card. Any fraudulent charges can be disputed, unlike your bank card when that money is often unrecoverable. You should also check your statements regularly and notify your credit company if you don’t recognize a transaction. If you do find something out of the ordinary there is a good chance it’s happened to one hundred other people.??

Scammers operate both individually and in fraud rings. Fraud rings are more difficult to spot because of the sophistication and time invested in impersonating a brand. Remember there are almost always signs that it may not be as advertised.??

Sometimes these coordinated schemes are launched by purchasing information to target a specific group on social media ads and then trying to move people to their own website, which is either an impersonation or a fictitious business. Of all holiday shopping fraud that was reported last year by the NFIB, nearly half was engineered on social media sites. Once someone is moved to a fraudulent site and completes their purchase, their card information can then be stolen by scammers. Scammers often take that information and use it to make their own purchases which then are redeemed for cash.?

These scams can be difficult to hold anyone accountable for because it all happens online. A fraudulent online store may be shut down, only to open as a new storefront. You can report any suspicious online behavior or known fraud to Action Fraud, a division of the U.K. police.?