Newsroom – Holiday Scams Alert
Holiday Scams Alert
With the holiday season fast approaching, we want to make sure your information is protected during the holidays so we’ve identified some tips that may help you avoid these scams.
Consumers around the country are in the middle of an active holiday shopping season. Unfortunately, the fraudsters are also active again this holiday season preying upon unsuspecting consumers. Ongoing vigilance is your best protection for your personal and financial information this holiday season.
Risk Prevention Tips
- Secure home computers and mobile devices: Ensure your home computers are secured with a firewall and antivirus software before performing any online transactions. Operating system patches should be downloaded when made available by known software vendors. You should also protect mobile devices (mobile phones, tablets, etc.) used to conduct online transactions by installing antivirus software.
- Phishing scams: Do not click on links or respond to emails, text messages, and phone calls that advertise the sale of gift cards, holiday gifts, promotions, contests and jobs.
- Be wary of holiday offers for free items: Avoid tempting holiday offers, such as free downloadable applications for smartphones, antivirus software, screen savers, ring-tones and electronic greeting cards, which may be infected with viruses and/or malware.
- Be wary of shopping online at Craigslist and public auction sites: Your purchase may never get delivered. Follow the best practices published by Craigslist and other public auction websites to avoid scams.
- Be wary of social media scams: Fraudsters often place bogus advertisements for free prizes on social media sites. Do not respond to these advertisements.
- Bogus charity scams: Confirm the legitimacy of the charity through the Better Business Bureau.
- Monitor accounts: Periodically monitor your deposit and credit card accounts to identify any unauthorized transactions. Immediately report unauthorized transactions to your credit union.
- Report scams to the Federal Trade Commission go to www.ftc.gov or call toll-free 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357)
Related Articles:
McAfee’s Avoid the 12 Scams of the Holidays:
http://promos.mcafee.com/en-us/lp/5918_pr.aspx?cid=113687
United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) Online Security Tips:
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/
Federal Trade Commission Charity Checklist: