The holidays are a time to celebrate – but they’re also the busiest time of year for scammers. The Better Business Bureau shared the top 12 scams of Christmas that have racked up thousands of victims.
Look beyond the twinkly lights and tinsel- and you’ll find many reasons to be cautious this holiday season.
“I've been doing this for a long time and the holiday season, it'll bring a lot of types of scams online as well as the brick and mortar companies,” said Steve Bernas, president of the Better Business Bureau.
Bernas has been tracking the most common scams consumers are likely to encounter this time of year.
From look-a-like websites to counterfeit luxury goods, some of the scams may not be new to you, but they’re on the rise this time of year.
Things like bogus texts saying you’ve been hacked, fake shipping notifications and misleading social media ads.
But some scams are harder to spot- even if they show up on your doorstep, like fake utility workers.
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“They got the utility type of organizations where they basically fake utility workers during the holiday season. They'll come to your house, knock on your door, and say, ‘We need to look at your meters or your electric downstairs’. You take them downstairs, you leave the front door open, they ransacked the house,” said Bernas.
And be sure to guard your gift cards.
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“There's just a lot of sites that pop up saying ‘check your balance on your gift card’ and ask for the digit code. Guess what? They just stole it from you,” said Bernas.
Unsurprisingly, many of the scams to watch for center on the most sought-after gifts during the holiday season- like puppies.
“There's a lot of puppy scams online at one point he was at one point we saw about 80% of the ads we were looking at, were fraudulent in some way. The tip off to the rip off is that you can't meet them in any way. That they're too busy, they want to do it through email,” said Bernas.
Even Advent calendars aren’t safe from scammers. The BBB has gotten several reports of misleading Advent calendar ads on social media.
Some calendars never arrived, and the ones that did had poor quality products.
Social media gift exchanges are also a popular holiday con, where consumers sign up for a type of online "secret Santa" gift exchange on social media. Spoiler alert- these are often illegal pyramid schemes and you end up getting nothing but scammed out of your money.
The BBB also warns parents that kids can be targeted by scammers through holiday-themed apps- where kids can video chat with Santa or watch Santa feed live reindeer.
“Parents need to read the privacy policies, because you want to know what they're doing with this information on your child. Are they selling it? Are they utilizing it in some way?” said Bernas.
Rounding out the list of the 12 scams of Christmas are holiday job scams. The National Retail Federation estimates that close to half a million seasonal workers will be hired this year. That demand fuels an increase in employment scams aimed at stealing money and person information from job applicants.
“If you see a scam, report it because that's the only way to prevent it from happening to others,” said Bernas.
Read more BBB Holiday Tips at BBB.org/holiday. Also, check BBB’s tips on online shopping.
If you've spotted a scam, report it to BBB Scam Tracker. Your report exposes scammer tactics.
You can also report scams and fraud to the Federal Track Commission.
You can also contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
The IC3 accepts online Internet Crime Complaints from either the actual victim or from a third party to the Complainant. This website processes complaints and may refer them to federal, state, local or international law enforcement or regulatory agencies for possible investigation.
