Tech Talk with Jeff - Holiday Scams
This is a scammers favorite time of the year. Everyone is busy shopping for the holidays and trying to do it as quickly as possible creating lots of opportunities to take advantage of people.
Which means, you need to be extra diligent about watching what you are spending and where. Where do scammers put their ads? Social media sites like Facebook and TikTok amongst others.
Is what you are about to click on a really good deal, or a scam? It’s hard to tell sometimes. Is the price really fantastic? The better the price is, the more likely it is a scam. Companies don’t sell their products below cost, but scammers are more than willing to make it a sweet deal to pull you in. Do some research on the vendor before clicking on the ad. Make sure they are valid, and the ad is valid. Not only can you lose money and time, but the scammers are also getting your information which they can use again.
It is also that time of year where shipments are being sent by the carriers to your home. Oops! They have an incorrect address for you. Click on this text link to correct it. No, no, no. Never trust text messages from shipping companies such as UPS and FedEx. Did you ever give them your phone number? This is a very common scam, and I would never click on a text from any of those companies. It’s not worth the risk, no matter how worried you are. Bigger problems will come with doing so.
Oh, they want you to pay for what you are buying using a gift card, wire transfer, crypto, etc. instead of using a credit card? Warning bells need to be going off. If they are using a non-standard method to be paid, then it is a scam.
The scams are getting more sophisticated because the scammers learn from previous attempts to separate you from your money. This trend will continue and with the advancing use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) the scams will get even harder to detect. We live in a wild west environment with the Internet. Do everything you can to protect yourself.
Happy Holidays - be aware and be safe!
