Ho Ho Ho! Tis the season..... to get ripped off

[David In Indy]

It's only one day into the Christmas season and here we go again.

The scam artists and thieves are everywhere, and they all want to rip us off. They will try to reach us through our email, standard mail, text messaging or telephone and they don't give up easily. I found the following information on the Internet and it lists some things we can do to help protect ourselves and our friends and family during this holiday season.

1: Beware new gift card scam
 
People will spend almost $25 billion buying gift cards this year. And that's ushered in a whole new kind of gift card scam.

Scam artists are stealing money from gift cards before you get to use it. The Better Business Bureau says this has become an issue over the past 2 months. Here's how it works:

Thieves copy down the activation number on the back of the gift card. They wait a few days for you to buy the card and activate it. They can then use the numbers they've jotted down to go on a spending spree...online.

Protect yourself by only buying gift cards that have scratch off PIN numbers or the PIN number is behind a peel. You may also want to purchase gift cards that are behind the cashiers' counter.

As always, keep your receipt. If you become a victim of this scam, you may be able to reclaim some of the money.

2: Screen your holiday greetings
With more and more people sending holiday cards out via e-mail, Cyber thieves are taking advantage and sending out their own versions of e-greetings. But this is one sentiment better left untouched.

These e-mails look like they are sent by a friend or family member, but it's really a scam artist intent on getting your Social Security number or your credit card information. It's really just a new play on the old phishing scam.

And if you're listed on social networking sites, like facebook.com or myspace.com, you may also receive e-mail messages that use the information that's posted to lure you into revealing personal data.

Your best defense is not to open any e-mail from people you don't know. Don't reveal any information...ever.

3: Don't re-enter your information
About 61 million people plan on hitting the Web rather than braving the stores this holiday season. And that means payday for a lot of scam artists. But there's a new twist.

If you've placed an order at an e-tailer like Amazon.com (AMZN (Charts)) or Walmart.com (WMT (Charts)), there's a chance you could get an e-mail stating there has been a problem with the order and you need to re-enter your credit card number, says Ed Dworsky of Consumerworld.org. But don't do it.

"No legitimate Internet seller will have you go online to re-enter your information," he says. Instead, you should call the e-tailer itself, or check your order status on the e-tailers' Web site.

4: Steer clear of charity scams
Charity scams are the number one scams this time of year, according to the Better Business Bureau. Some of the most popular scams around the holidays involves war veteran groups.

Scammers are playing on generosity people feel when they see uniformed soldiers. "It can be a very effective ploy," says Art Taylor of the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance.

Another popular scam around the holidays is police or fire fighting charities. People want the chance to give to their local heroes, says Taylor. But most of the money you donate will go right to telemarketers.

To protect yourself, don't donate to a charity that solicits door-to-door, over the phone or by e-mail. "That's not the way legitimate charities do business," says Taylor.

Instead, you should receive a letter and also look for the Better Business Bureau seal of approval. You'll also want to go to http://www.give.org/ or charitynavigator.org which evaluates the financial status of organizations.



Also, I think it's a very good idea for women to make certain their purses are secure at all times. Men should carry their wallets in a front pocket to avoid being pickpocketed. In addition, if you have older family members or friends, alert them to possible scams and schemes and keep a close eye on them. Many of these thieves will target the elderly.

If anyone else has additional ideas, please share them with us by posting them in here. 

[Lumière]

I was shopping in the weekend and got to chatting with a sales clerk at one of the stores.
She told me that they had been warned to keep the pin pads behind the counter at all times because people are stealing them at an alarming rate these days, what with the malls being crowded with holiday shoppers and all.  A stolen pin pad provides access to users' card numbers, as well as their PINs. 

[Kd5000]

As technology advances, so do the criminals based on the posts about ppl stealing pin pads behind the counter and sending you bogus e-mail.  Well, I'd probably delete the email if it starts asking for credit card numbers before even rereading the article.  You can't be too careful. 

I also read elsewhere not to follow thru with the vendors "If you like this product, we recommend..."  I think they do this thinking you might buy a recommendation as an impulse buy.  However, the article went to say "recommendations are usually FULL price."

They say half of American workers will be shopping on-line today.  Wow, how ppl have changed with the times. 

[Wishes]

That's a lot of good advice David. I had heard of the gift card one last year. What people come up with to rip others off!

I never ever open an e mail that is even the remote bit suspicious. I also have heard that you should put your own e mail address in your address book. That way if you get a e mail from yourself you will know some virus program has hit your computer. They also recommend putting it under a name which will put it at the beginning of your address list such as "aa"

I love to shop on line and **knocks wood** have never had any problems yet. I have got suspicious emails from ebay that were not really from ebay. If you ever get any you are supposed to forward them to "[email protected]"

[Kelda]

I've had a spoof paypal one -  I'm going a bit ebay crazy at the mo - I have refound the vintage clothing section on ebay... I currently want to buy a 50s style full circle petticoat but i keep reminding myself n- I dont actuallt need it and how often would I use it? maybe trwice a year!?!

[David In Indy]

That's a lot of good advice David. I had heard of the gift card one last year. What people come up with to rip others off!

I never ever open an e mail that is even the remote bit suspicious. I also have heard that you should put your own e mail address in your address book. That way if you get a e mail from yourself you will know some virus program has hit your computer. They also recommend putting it under a name which will put it at the beginning of your address list such as "aa"

I love to shop on line and **knocks wood** have never had any problems yet. I have got suspicious emails from ebay that were not really from ebay. If you ever get any you are supposed to forward them to "[email protected]"

Thank you Wishes for telling us about this. I hadn't heard about the address book. This is a good suggestion. I don't use my address book, but I will plug my email in there anyway just to see what happens. Like you, I NEVER open any suspicious email. In fact, I generally delete ALL email sent to me from strangers. If I don't know who sent it, it gets deleted. Many of these spam emails are infected with viruses.

[David In Indy]

Gosh ... isn't it sad how these people go to such lengths to steal from you? 

Yes it is. They said on the news here the other night that women should carry their purses around their neck, instead of over their shoulder. and the opening of the purse should be against the body, or if the opening is at the top it should be covered by an arm to keep someone from reaching in or snatching the purse.

[Wishes]

Hey Kelda, I love vintage clothes! I have some things in my closet I picked up at thrift stores over the years. I rarely go to a thrift store any more. I have enough stuff.

Hi David, a friend told me about that e mail address suggestion. It actually makes sense as many viruses "read" and then sent the e mail to all contacts without you even knowing. Or so this is what I have heard.

That is also a good suggestion about purses. I usually only use one of the purses that cross over your body if I go to the big city. I never though leave my purse in a shopping cart as I have seen some women do. Catalogs and websites that sell travel based items also sell the across the body purses which have the straps lined with a steel cord because in some countries theives just cut the purse straps with razor blades and run before the person can figure out what hit them.