Preparing for the Grinch of the Holiday Season: Financial Fraud and Scams

The holiday season is upon us. A time for family, friends, reflection and scammers. Yes, scammers. With people in a spending and giving mood, the scammers are active. Holiday scams can work in a number of ways, and it is important that we are aware and informed.

Emails

Not only around the holidays, but all through the year, we all receive countless emails asking to click on a link within the email for a variety of reasons. During the holidays, these email scams might promote sales at websites or other retailers or perhaps encourage you to make a charitable contribution.

Generally, these emails will have some sort of link they encourage you to click on. Do not!

With any sort of email, whether soliciting help for a charity or from a retailer wanting you to learn more, go to the website of the charity or the company for more information. Go to that site independently of the email received to check them out. Feel free to contact the organization to ask about the email offer you received as well. Verify the legitimacy of any offer or solicitation to donate before clicking on any link.

Some Common Scams

There are a number of common techniques that scammers might use to get your information.

• Scams involving a package delivery may include a scammer contacting you for information in order to confirm where a package for you should be delivered. They may send an email with a link that could infect your computer with malware if clicked. They may ask for credit card information to "verify" your account information.

• Missed package delivery scams will ask for personal information to "verify" your address, etc. This information could aid a scammer in a future scam against you.

• Gift cards offer an array of scamming opportunities. This might come in the form of a trusted friend or an organization asking you to purchase an online gift card for their friend. If you receive a questionable gift card request, be sure to contact the requester by phone to verify.

These and countless other types of scams seem to multiply during the holidays. If you are even the slightest bit suspicious, please verify before giving out any information, especially credit card data.

Secure Online Transactions

When making an online payment, be sure to use a secure payment method. This may often be a credit card that offers fraud protection. Debit cards can be risky in that the money comes directly out of your bank account, just as if you wrote a check. In the event of a fraudulent transaction, or even if you wanted to protest the transaction for a non-fraudulent reason, the money is gone and will be difficult to recover in many cases.

It is critical to monitor your credit card and bank accounts during the holidays to detect any fraudulent transactions. This is important throughout the year, but especially during the holidays with the increased volume of transactions that you legitimately make. Add in all the solicitations you might receive, and the possibility of being the victim of a fraudulent transaction multiplies.

If you do see a transaction that you did not make, contact your credit card issuer or your bank and bring it to their attention. The sooner you do this, the more likely they will be able to help you by voiding the transaction or taking other actions.

Charity Scams

The holiday season is a time when many of us focus on charitable contributions. This may be in part due to the holidays being a season of giving and some year-end tax planning. Whatever our motivation, we may be more open to a plea for charity to contribute than during the rest of the year.

Some charity scammers may use phone calls to solicit donations. Contributing over the phone is risky on several counts. First you are giving your credit card information to someone you know nothing about. They may be legitimately soliciting donations for a real charity. But they may also be scammers looking to steal your information. If you receive this type of phone call, you are better off declining and saying you prefer to donate directly via sending a check or on their website. Anyone who is legitimate will certainly understand and thank you. A scammer will likely protest and try to convince you to donate through them.

Charity scams can also be originated by email. A scammer can get your email address relatively easily and send you an email appealing to your charitable side. The email will often contain a link to click on to donate. In the case of a scam, this link will lead to some bogus site where the scammer hopes that you will input your card and other information they can use to steal from you.

Please contact your Wedbush Financial advisor to learn more about protecting yourself from these types of scams and about how to best make a charitable contribution for your situation. Do not fall victim to the scamming Grinch this holiday season.

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