Holiday Scams To Avoid This Shopping Season

A release from Stoneham Safety Officer Joseph Ponzo:

Every year scam artists find new and improved ways to get your money the illegitimate way. With every penny becoming more important to us, I've researched some new and improved scams running this year and I'm sure years to come. I will explain these few scams in as simple terms as possible.

The first scam is known as the gift card scam. The gift card scam has evolved off of the "skimming credit card scam." Basically what happens is scammers go to the racks where gift cards are kept and with handheld scanners, read the number on the front of the card as well as the code on the magnetic strip. According to USA Today, the scammer will then put the card back on the rack and check the 800 number periodically to see if the card has been activated or not. Once the card has been bought and activated, they create a counterfeit card similarly to the way they make credit cards in the skimming scam. They can then use that card number on the new card they just created a new card which usually looks identically to the card that was purchased. Sometime they will just use the numbers on line without even making a fake card and you would never know till after you
tried using your gift card or even more importantly after your gift receiver tries to use it. The easiest way to not fall victim to this scam is to always purchase a gift card from behind the stores counter and if the card is ore-loaded, always ask for the card to be scanned by the clerk to see it is fully valued.

The puppy scam is always popular with scammers setting up phony websites claiming to be breeders of puppies. They will have cute photos on their website. The scammer will usually ask for additional fees such as shipping, veterinarian fees and insurance. This is usually a red flag! According to Steven Weisman a writer of many scam artist articles, the victim is then told to go to the airport to retrieve their puppy, where of course, there is no puppy. Solution!!!! Simply never buy a dog without physically seeing it first. You can also get an independent veterinarian's report on the dog and check out the seller with the American Kennel Club.

The Phishing Scam is nothing new, but so common I have to mention it. E-mails are frequent during the holiday season with hundreds sent to us with great bargains. You can never be certain if an e-mail is legit, but you can always go to the website of the company to see if the email you received about a certain deal is legitimate or not. If the deal is not legit, then all the website will do is ask all your information both for your credit card and your personal information as if you we're purchasing the item(s) legitimately, but of course the deal does not exist and you just purchased a factitious item.

The vacation home rental scam is a scam where a vacation home is listed on a legitimate website such as Craigslist. The listing usually looks official, but there are red flags to look for. If the price is too good to be true, it usually isn't. This goes for most items including vacation rentals! Never send your payment with a wire transfer or cashier’s check. Always try and use your credit card so you are protected in some way. You can always go to the website of the town the property is located to find out who the real owner is. If it doesn't match the person’s name you are dealing with then it’s usually a scam. Also if you are renting a piece of vacation property, never take a cashier’s check for the rental. Usually scammers will prepay with a phony cashier’s check
and then cancel due to “an emergency" and request that you send them a personal check. You deposit their phony check which looks identical to that banks cashier’s check and by the time the bank figures out the cashier’s check is fake, you have already sent them a good personal check that has been cashed. I have checked with Bank of America who tells me it could take up to 90 days for them to figure out a certain cashier’s check is fraudulent. That's how good these scammers are.
Please don't take a cashier’s check. For years ago they were the most secure form of payment, but today not so!!

These are just a few scams scammers are using this holiday season and I hope you will remember this article if confronted with any of these.

Remember Safety First