How to Stop Yourself from Being Scammed This Holiday Season
10/28/2021
As the holiday season approaches, many Mainers fill their online shopping carts with gifts for friends and family; and scammers are watching. Not only has fraud risen since the start of the COVID-19 era, but the holidays are when hackers and fraudsters further ramp up their efforts to prey on unsuspecting shoppers. This is done primarily through a common scam tactic known as phishing. However, by staying vigilant and following a few simple tips, you can keep your holiday phishing-free.
What is Phishing?
Phishing is a tactic in which a hacker will send out a text message or email made to look like it’s from a legitimate site like Amazon, Netflix, or a financial institution. Within the message, they will tell a story to trick you into clicking on a link or button, ultimately having you input personal information that they will use against you.
Why is it more common during the holidays?
Let’s face it - holiday shopping can become a blur. Shoppers will purchase gifts from different sites - then lose track of what was bought, where they shopped, and when it will be delivered. This is where hackers come in.
Amongst the deal-searching, you may see an email offering a no-interest credit card. Or maybe you get a delivery confirmation text referring to a purchase you never made. And to make things easy for the family, you share passwords with everyone. All these things make online holiday shoppers vulnerable to fraudsters.
How to Recognize Phishing
It’s not all doom and gloom! Being aware of these scams is key to beating them.
There are simple ways to detect phishing attacks:
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Grammatical and Spelling Errors - Is the company’s email address spelled correctly? How about in the text? Careful reading can quickly help weed out scams.
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Misleading URLs - By hovering over a link, you can check to see if it leads to a legitimate site or not. Also, be aware of shortened URLs (like bit.ly), which trusted companies do not commonly use.
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Asking for Personal Information - Call them instead if a company asks for sensitive personal or financial information over text or email. Reputable companies will not do this, especially financial institutions.
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Low-res Images - If you notice the logo looks blurry or other low-resolution images, there is cause for suspicion.
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Contact Out of the Blue - Take a minute to think, have you ever contacted or shown interest in this company? If not, then it’s most likely a phishing attack.
All in all, the message here is simple: better safe than sorry this holiday season! You can learn more about keeping yourself safe and secure online by visiting our website.