Protect Yourself Against Online Scams*

With everyone starting their holiday shopping for their family, it’s definitely the best time for shoppers to be more vigilant of scams. Criminals know that sometimes shopping online is the best way to steal unsuspecting shoppers of their money and personal information. These criminals can be very creative and their efforts to obtain your money and personal information can result in devastating outcomes for families. Don’t become a victim.

The FBI Office of Public Affairs states that “if a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is.” Online Shopping Scams are happening more frequently especially around the holidays. Scheming companies may offer brand name items for extremely low prices or promise gift cards as an incentive to buy the items. Other sites might offer products at a great price, but the products being sold are not the same as advertised.
Stay away from un-trusted sites or ads as well as phishing e-mails and third-party merchants. In addition, do not open unsolicited emails and never click on any links in those e-mails.

But, what are phishing e-mails?
These emails will typically direct you to visit a website where they ask you to update your personal information, like password, credit card, social security, or bank account numbers. These phishing e-mails may claim to be the legitimate companies you deal with on a regular basis, so be very careful.
I. Stay away from those emails that suggest you change your password via an email link.
II. Do not update any information in the email.
III. Make sure you place those unwanted emails into your Spam folder and Block the Sender
If you find yourself receiving items purchased from third-party marketplaces, be vigilant. This may mean it was possibly purchased using a stolen credit card number or stolen rewards points and then shipped to you. If believe you have been victimized, contact your financial institution immediately upon suspecting or discovering a fraudulent activity. Request your bank contacts the financial institution where the fraudulent transfer was sent. Next, contact your local police and finally, file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.IC3.gov, regardless of how much you’ve lost. Make sure you provide all relevant information in your complaint.