With the busy holiday season approaching, consumers might be more distracted with shopping, donating, or sending money online. This can lead to missing common red flags that fraudsters leave behind when they work to separate people from their hard-earned money. Common scams include fake websites and apps, phishing emails and texts about package delivery, and impersonation scams using tactics like demanding gift card payments or using AI to create fake ads or posing as credible services.

Here are some of the anticipated risks:

1. Holiday Mail and Delivery Scams – fake emails searching for personal data due to the inability to complete delivery.

2. Holiday Shopping Scams – merchandise for sale at discounted prices requiring immediate acceptance by asking you to hit the “buy or submit” link.

3. Charity and Investment Scams – the holiday months create a desire to help those around us. Some may not be legitimate.

4. Tech Support Scams – someone calls and says they’re a computer technician, maybe claiming to be from a well-known company, offering to resolve an issue on your computer. The goal here is to acquire personal data or potentially download malware allowing them to see everything on your computer.

5. Imposter Scams – pretending to be a family member or someone that needs your help. Romance scams would be an example of this.

6. Deepfake Scams – the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is creating situations where it appears someone is saying or doing something that they didn’t.

Ways to avoid being scammed:

• Don’t always trust the name - fraudsters will spoof the email name, phone numbers, and web page URLs to appear to be legitimate.
• Be cautious of clicking links and opening attachments – Don’t click unless you are confident of the sender or are expecting the attachment.
• Do not provide personal or account information when asked. Look up and call a trusted number to verify any request.
• Do not share a one-time passcode sent via text or email to your device(s).
• Be suspicious of “urgent” or “immediate” response needed.
• Set up a “password” with family members for identification purposes in an emergency.
• Be wary of offers that appear too good to be true, require fast action, or instill a sense of fear.
• Keep social media accounts private and be cautious who you’re connecting with.
• Never share anything related to your personal accounts in an unprotected public forum.

Always report suspicious activity to the credit union as soon as possible.