As the holiday season approaches, the FBI Columbia Field Office warns people to be wary of holiday scams designed to steal consumer money and information.
Scammers will make use of the seasonal shopping craze to find opportunities to take advantage of consumers as they buy holiday presents for their friends and family members, an FBI press release said.
“More than ever consumers are shopping online and using alternative payment methods, aside from cash,” Susan Ferensic, special agent in charge of the FBI Columbia Field Office, said in the release. “Criminals have adapted to the way we shop, and they work overtime to create elaborate schemes to steal from us.”
The two most prevalent holiday scams are non-delivery and non-payment crimes, with more than 17,000 complaints of non-delivery of goods received by the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) last holiday season, the release said. The events resulted in over $53 million in losses.
Among the most common holiday scams outlined by the FBI are online shopping scams which offer false deals through phishing emails and advertisements, smartphone app scams designed to steal personal information through apps designed as free games, work-from-home-scams offering fraudulent job opportunities, and gift card and charity scams profiting from individuals who believe they are making legitimate purchases or donations.
Individuals who believe they may be a victim of a scam are encouraged to contact their financial institution immediately as well as their local law enforcement agency and file a complaint with IC3.
