‘Tis the season for traveling and online shopping, and it’s also that time of year when scammers take advantage of increased online activity and higher levels of distraction. 

Forbes.com reported that one in three Americans have been the victims of holiday season scams, and 58% of those people lost money because of the scams. Last year, the Federal Trade Commission tallied $95.2 million in losses between October and December. 

Exercise Caution to Spot a Scam

Below are some of the most popular holiday scam scenarios (Source: Acamstoday.org). If you encounter a similar situation, don’t click on the links that are given to you. The links will lead to malware, or sites that can steal your information and credentials.

• You receive a text from your bank or a popular retailer, telling you they’ve found a suspicious transaction. You are asked to click a link to keep your account secure.

• You receive an email or a message on social media soliciting a donation. If you click the link, the website looks similar to the impersonated organization’s site.

• You receive an email or text claiming that you’ve won a gift card, or offering you a deal on discounted gift cards.

• You receive a message or a phone call from the IRS or a utility company. They threaten legal action unless you pay them with gift cards. 

• You book a holiday rental or flight from a site that was reached from a link, and not by going directly to the trusted platform. 

• You receive an email or a text telling you that your package can’t be delivered. The postal service is missing information, or payment, and they give you a link to provide that information or reschedule the delivery.

• You find an ad on social media for a heavily discounted popular item. You click on the link to visit the site and make your purchase, but it’s not a site that you’re familiar with. It’s hard to tell whether the site is legitimate or not. 

Take Action to Be Cyber Safe

The holidays can be stressful enough without having to deal with identity theft or losing money to cybercriminals. Use these tips to protect yourself.

• Check your credit card and bank statements for unauthorized transactions to make sure your accounts or information haven’t been compromised. 

• Use multifactor authentication when it’s offered in your personal accounts to benefit from the extra security. 

• Carefully check links and urls before clicking or making purchases. Only make online purchases from sites with secure connections (https://).

• Keep your devices and software up to date.

Get even more tips from the National Cybersecurity Alliance’s safe online holiday shopping toolkit. 

If you believe that you’ve been a target of cybercrime at your Cornell email address, or that your Cornell account has been compromised, please change your NetID password immediately and contact the IT Security Office.