T’is the holiday season and scammers have already started taking advantage of it by working harder. The FTC stated that Americans lost $148 million to gift card scams in the first nine months of the year.
What’s going on?
- Almost 40,000 consumers reported falling victim to scams that involved gift cards as a payment method.
- This year, Target gift cards remained the top choice among cybercriminals. However, Apple, Google Play, eBay, and Walmart gift cards were popular too.
- Most of these scams start with a phone call from someone masquerading as a government branch.
- The scammer may then threaten to freeze the victims’ bank accounts and urge them to buy gift cards to avoid arrest.
What’s worrying?
The agency stated that some scammers even groom victims to evade detection. Evidence suggests that criminals have instructed victims to go to multiple stores and make smaller purchases to avoid looking suspicious. In some cases, they were also found coaching victims on what to answer if the cashiers asked them something.
FBI warns too
The FBI and Better Business Bureau have warned buyers against an increase in scams related to the Christmas shopping season.
- In 2020, the FBI IC3 received almost 20,000 complaints about the non-delivery of goods, resulting in a loss of $53 million.
- Two of the most common holiday scams are non-payment and non-delivery scams.
- According to a 2020 report by IC3, these scams cost people more than $265 million. Additionally, credit card fraud cost people $129 million in losses.
The bottom line
The FTC and FBI have urged customers to hang up on callers who pretend to be collecting debts via gift cards. Moreover, it is necessary to check the legitimacy of the buyer and seller before moving forward with a purchase. In short, be vigilant and if scammed, contact law enforcement.
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