AARP Warns About Holiday Scams
Oh, scammers love the holidays! Stay focused this season and don’t let them get the best of you. What tricks do con artists use to steal your money? How can you outsmart scammers before they strike? Beat the con artists at their game. Check out these scam alerts and don’t get duped.
If you’d like to host a frauds and scams presentation in your community, email us at nh@aarp.org. We have a corps of trained volunteers who can bring to you a one-hour top frauds and scams presentation. Free of charge!
So, here are some more frauds and scams which may be coming to you!
Seasonal Work Scams
Who couldn’t use a little extra money over the holidays? As many as a half million people will take seasonal jobs during the holiday season. And scammers will be out there trying to take advantage of seasonal workers by posing as employers on third-party websites. When you apply for these job listings, you will be promoted to provide personal information such as date of birth, address and Social Security number for “verification purposes.” Scammers can then use this information to steal your identity. One big red flag to look out for is a job which offers a lot of money for very little work. If the position seems too good to be true, it is probably a scam. If you have questions about a job listing you see online, go directly to the business website or give them a call.
Gift Exchange
Whether at work or school, December is the season for gift exchanges and scammers want to get in on the action. One pyramid scam often seen around this season involves a viral social media post about joining in a Secret Holiday gift exchange. It promises that if you send one gift to a recipient, you will receive upwards of 30 gifts in return. However, these chain “gift exchanges” are a form of illegal gambling. Not only may you not receive any gifts, but you also may end up in legal trouble. With so many ways to give in real life, skip the virtual gift giving and have a safer holiday season.
Gift Cards
Gift cards are a great idea for gift giving, but do you know how to spot one that’s been compromised? Check the back of the card to make sure the strip over the activation code is intact. Don’t buy the first card on the rack as they are the top target for impatient scammers. Lastly, register your gift card with the retailer if it is an option. This will make it easier to report misuse if it occurs. Your safest bet is to buy gift cards that are stored safely behind the counter or purchase them online directly from the retailer.
End of Year, More Work to Be Done
As 2019 comes to a close, it is a good time to pause and reflect on all of the work that goes into keeping Granite Staters safe from scams and fraud. Over the course of this year AARP New Hampshire has shared tips with thousands of people about how to stay safe from online and telephone scams. We’ve helped seniors stay safe by shredding thousands of pounds of documents containing personal information. AARP volunteers have given fraud prevention presentations across the state and we’ve reached a large online audience through email alerts and social media messages. But while we sit back and catch our breath a bit over the holiday season, we know that this important work doesn’t end. Scammers won’t stop so neither can we, so look for us in your community in 2020.
Be a fraud fighter! If you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam.
Report scams to local law enforcement. For help from AARP, call 1-877-908-3360 or visit the AARP Fraud Watch Network at www.aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork.
