Fraud Alert: Avoid These Holiday Scams

Con artists are “working hard” to get their hands on your money this holiday season. Do not let all the holiday festivities blind you to scams and rip-offs.

Naming a Star

What gift could you give someone that symbolizes the first Christmas?...A Star! Various companies claim you can name a star and costs $20-$150. These companies will send you a certificate with the name and location of “your star” and promise that your star’s name will be in a star registry. Stars are named by the International Astronomical Union—and they aren’t selling. Stars are traditionally assigned numbers and are assigned according to the internationally accepted rules of the IAU. When the companies say your star is going into a “registry,” they mean whatever registry they made up.

Fake Charities

Many charities will come knocking, calling or mailing you for donations because people are more generous during the holidays. According to the Federal Trade Commission, many of the calls you get his year will be from scam artists. The FTC has a checklist of warning signs to help you steer clear of charity scams. Make an annual charity giving plan and stick to it.

Spam Solicitations

Never buy anything from an unsolicited email. No matter how “good” the deal is, it is not worth the risk of losing your money or giving any of your personal information to a possible scam artist. Delete these emails and do not respond to them because it lets the spammers know that you have a working email address and sets you up to become a victim of identity theft.

Online Auction Scams

Bid wisely and pay for items using your credit card, if not PayPal, so you can cancel or dispute the payment if you do not receive your merchandise or is not what the person made it out be.

The High-Pressure Sale

The most annoying scam may just be the legal one: the high-pressure sale. It can happen anywhere, the car lot, over the phone. Rest assured, there are lots of products in the world, and if one person is willing to give you a “good deal” on it, someone else will too. Go home, research the product and prices online, and save yourself from paying too much.