Blog Post & Cyber Tips

Written By Beverly Lawler

Tips to Avoid Holiday Scams

The holiday season is a scammer's favorite time of the year. They are looking for unsuspecting targets that have their guard down. Once they find that one person easily distracted, they jump on that opportunity. If you are shopping online this season or at any time, stay alert. Deals that appear too good to be true probably are. Scammers are always looking for the next scheme.

This year, a new scam called check washing is on the rise. Check Washing Identity theft involves putting a check in the mail and having a thief steal it from the USPS or your home mailbox. Check-washing scams also include changing the payee names and often the dollar amounts on checks and fraudulently depositing them. If you send cards with checks in them as gifts, switch from blue to black ink when writing checks, and use a gel pen when possible.

You can protect yourself by:

  • Depositing mail before the last pickup

  • Retrieve mail frequently

  • Hold mail at the post office

The two most prevalent holiday scams are non-delivery and non-payment crimes. In a non-delivery scam, a buyer pays for goods or services they find online, but those items are never received. On the other hand, a non-payment scam involves goods or services shipped, but the seller does not receive payment.

If You have been scammed, what should you do?

  • If you experience a credit card scam, call your credit card company or your bank. Dispute any suspicious charges.

  • Contact local law enforcement.

  • Report the scam to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov.The IC3 receives a large volume of complaints in the early months of each year, suggesting a correlation with the previous holiday season's shopping scams.

Tips to Avoid Holiday Scams 

  • Don't click any suspicious links or attachments in emails, websites, and social media

  • Don't give up personal information (your name, password, and bank account number 

  • Be careful of companies asking you to update your password or account information

  • Make sure you look up the company's phone number on your own 

Finally: Always practice good cybersecurity hygiene.

Beverly Lawler
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