Top tips is a weekly column where we highlight what’s trending in the tech world today and list ways to explore these trends. This week, we’ll look at three common holiday season scams and how to spot and avoid them.
‘Tis the season to be jolly—and wary.
The holidays are the time when friends and families come together, make merry, and revel in the festivities. It’s also a good time for scammers to take advantage of the festivities and come up with creative scams, which, if you’re not careful, could leave a major dent in your holiday budget.
According to Digital Commerce 360, online month-on-month sales increased by 2.59% in the month of December 2023, and this is a trend that is consistent with prior years as well. With scammers being fully aware of this spike in online spending during the holiday season, they are adapting their methods and innovating in ways to suit the festive time. Let’s take a look at the three most common holiday scams, how they operate, and how to avoid putting a damper on the festivities.
1. Online shopping scams
It takes a lot of restraint not to click an advertisement giving away an iPhone 16 or a PS5 for a throwaway price. Such “too good to be true” deals come in attractive packages, bold captions, and urgent calls to action. When you come across some deal or offer that seems too good to be true, more often than not, it is.
Scammers create fake websites, apps, and links to popular e-commerce websites that look very much like the original, displaying deals for hot-topic items that give a user the impression that these are festive, limited-time only offers, thus causing the user to take action by clicking the link. When one does so, they run the risk of giving away their personal and banking information without their knowledge, sometimes losing money in the process.
Users must proceed with caution when they see such throwaway deals. Check the URL for “https” and also make sure that the website has a security certificate if the scam is displayed on a browser. Also, make sure you check for customer feedback on the e-commerce website or app. A big red flag would be seeing no reviews or overwhelmingly positive reviews.
Overall, your best bet would be to proceed with a trusted e-commerce website or application, like Amazon or Target.
2. Charity scams
The holidays are not only a season of indulgence but also the season of giving. People tend to contribute to causes and charities more often during the holiday season, and somewhere in the world, a greedy scammer is gleefully chomping at the bit to be on the receiving end of your holiday benevolence.
With so much media coverage of natural calamities, war atrocities, and other disasters, people feel more incentivized to contribute to causes and charities that provide relief to victims as a form of social outreach. Scammers too stay up to date on the latest news updates, track the activities of legitimate relief organizations, and do their best to replicate their methods.
One way to spot a fake charity is by reading their “About Us” section or their mission statement. The language used will often be a simple, spoken language, riddled with spelling and grammatical errors. Another way is to research the charity organization online, or if the message is from a legitimate organization such as Unicef, it would be best to find its toll-free number on the official website and call to confirm if the URL is legitimate.
3. Package delivery scams
One of the most common scams in recent times is scammers impersonating popular delivery services, such as UPS or FedEx, and tricking recipients into clicking fake links. Most often, the recipient will get a call, message, or email from a scammer claiming to represent one of the delivery services described above, informing them that there’s been a missed delivery or a delivery that has been temporarily suspended until the recipient makes a payment towards something like a customs fee.
In such cases, the scammers could identify your name, email address, or phone number, making it seem more legitimate and prompting immediate action from the recipient, which in most cases would be a transfer of funds.
An easy way to spot a package delivery scam call is if the caller refuses to get into the specifics of the scheduled delivery. They may not be able to ascertain the item in the package or the exact destination where it’s headed. For text messages, look up the sender’s contact number online, and if it seems legitimate, look closer for small variations. Even email scams could have small variations or spelling errors in the sender’s email address. Any request for sensitive personal information could be a dead giveaway. Be extra cautious if you’re not expecting any delivery. Most importantly, go directly to the delivery service’s official website to track the status of your shipment.
Make a list, check it twice
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and we here at ManageEngine want to keep it that way. Although we tend to let our guard down during this season, let’s make it a habit to be skeptical of the links we receive, be wary of the sites we visit, and keep track of all the purchases and contributions we make because at the end of the day, the real joy of the holiday season is in giving to those who are in need, not to those who are of greed.
Season’s greetings!
