According to analysts at the Federal Trade Commission, Utah ranks 36th among all 50 states in incidents of fraud and other scams.
(Image courtesy of Facebook).
LOGAN – The Federal Bureau of Investigation wants to warn online holiday shoppers to always be wary of deals that seem too good to be true. Don’t become a scammer’s next victim.
It’s almost a holiday tradition every year, thousands of Americans become victims of holiday scams. Scammers are sharp and can take some if not all of person’s hard-earned money, personal information, and, at the very least, a festive mood.
Scams can include:
- Non-delivery scams, where you pay for goods or services you find online, but you never receive your items.
- Non-payment scams, where you ship purchased goods or services, but you never receive payment for them.
- Auction fraud, where a product you purchase was misrepresented on an auction site.
- Gift card fraud, where a seller asks you to pay with a pre-paid card.
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported non-payment and non-delivery scams cost people more than $281 million in 2022. Credit card fraud accounted for another $264 million in losses.
The IC3 receives a large volume of complaints in the early months of each year, suggesting a correlation with the previous holiday season’s shopping scams.
If you have been scammed, call your credit card company or bank. Dispute any suspicious charges then call law enforcement and last contact the FBI’s IC3 and report it to them.
Here are some tips to help online shoppers from being scammed. Whether you are the buyer of seller there are a number of ways to protect yourself.
Practice your own cyber security by not clicking on suspicious links or attachments in emails, websites or on social media. Phishing scams and similar crimes get a person to click on links and give up personal data like names, passwords and bank account numbers.
In some cases a person may unintentionally download malware to your computer or other device.
A red flag should be raised it a company asks a person to update their password or account information. It is wise to look up the company’s pho
Be especially wary if a company asks you to update your password or account information. Look up the company’s phone number on your own.
Monitor the shipping process.
- Always get tracking numbers for items you buy online, so you can make sure they have been shipped and can follow the delivery process.
- Be suspect of any credit card purchases where the address of the cardholder does not match the shipping address when you are selling. Always receive the cardholder’s authorization before shipping any products.
The most important thing to remember is: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.