Now that the holidays are approaching, so are many bad actors with purely malicious intent. While people may think they are not likely to be scammed or believe they would never fall victim to a scam, it’s a lot more common than they think.
Today, online holiday shopping has become more popular ever since the quarantine in 2020 due to COVID-19. Scams might not always look like what people expect them to look like, and they may seem completely legitimate. According to experts, a telltale sign that a person is looking at a scam is if they find a deal that may be too good to be true. It most likely is.
When shopping online, people are encouraged to take heightened precautions and make sure to research the seller or marketplace and check written reviews thoroughly to make sure they are legitimate. When shoppers go to pay or checkout, if they are being asked to pay via wire transfer, cryptocurrency or a gift card, it most likely is a scam. Instead, credit card payments are seen as more trustworthy because it is a traceable method of payment. In the unfortunate event of falling victim to a scam, if a person is charged improperly or received a faulty or defective item, they can often dispute the charges with the credit card company while they investigate the charges.
Now with technology as advanced as it is, other cyber threats have emerged, like deepfake technology and other types of Artificial Intelligence being used to alter and create malicious advertisements. With all these new developments in technology, cybercriminals have begun to use it to their advantage. On Sept. 4, Norton released an article about emerging threats, which includes information about the massive CryptoCore scam in which AI was used to steal an estimated amount of $5 million.
In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also released its annual report that said adults aged 60 and older were five times as likely as adults aged 18 to 59 to report losing money to a tech support scam.
To avoid facing this holiday heartbreak, experts suggest to shop in store or, when shopping online, shop only with reputable sellers and on official store websites.