{"id":521748,"date":"2022-12-05T19:23:34","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T16:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/beware-of-these-four-holiday-scams\/"},"modified":"2022-12-05T19:23:34","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T16:23:34","slug":"beware-of-these-four-holiday-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/beware-of-these-four-holiday-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"#Beware of these four holiday scams"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a36c3e31f576\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a36c3e31f576\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/beware-of-these-four-holiday-scams\/#%E2%80%9CBeware_of_these_four_holiday_scams%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Beware of these four holiday scams&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/beware-of-these-four-holiday-scams\/#4_common_holiday_scams_to_watch_out\" >4 common holiday scams to watch out<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/beware-of-these-four-holiday-scams\/#1_Package_delivery_scam\" >1. Package delivery scam<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/beware-of-these-four-holiday-scams\/#How_to_avoid_package_delivery_scams\" >How to avoid package delivery scams<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/beware-of-these-four-holiday-scams\/#2_Charity_scams\" >2. Charity scams<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/beware-of-these-four-holiday-scams\/#How_to_avoid_charity_scams\" >How to avoid charity scams<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/beware-of-these-four-holiday-scams\/#3_Social_media_gift_exchange_scam\" >3. Social media gift exchange scam\u00a0<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/beware-of-these-four-holiday-scams\/#How_to_avoid_social_media_gift_exchange_scams\" >How to avoid social media gift exchange scams<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/beware-of-these-four-holiday-scams\/#4_Gift_card_scams\" >4. Gift card scams<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/beware-of-these-four-holiday-scams\/#How_to_avoid_gift_card_scams\" >How to avoid gift card scams<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CBeware_of_these_four_holiday_scams%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Beware of these four holiday scams&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>It\u2019s a busy time of year for everyone. You may be planning your meals for hosting or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a>ing to see loved ones,\u00a0and you\u2019re more likely than not starting to think about gifts to buy before the new year.<\/p>\n<p>Scammers know how easy it is to catch you off guard during this time of year, so we\u2019re here to warn you about 4 of the most common ways you can become a victim around the holidays.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_common_holiday_scams_to_watch_out\"><\/span>4 common holiday scams to watch out<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Package_delivery_scam\"><\/span>1. Package delivery scam<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>With\u00a0the holiday season\u00a0in full swing, the end-of-year sales have begun and you probably have already started your holiday shopping and expecting packages coming via different types of delivery services like FedEx, UPS, or USPS. So if you receive a text that mentions a package delivery, you may be likely to easily fall for a scam.<\/p>\n<p>I was expecting a package recently and received this text out of the blue:<\/p>\n<p>Even though the text says the sender is not in my contact list and that it may be junk, I almost clicked the link because I was so focused on the fact that there may have been a typo in my delivery address. But once I looked a little closer, there were a few red flags in this text message that tipped me off to it being a scam.<\/p>\n<p>Red Flag 1: The link does not lead you to usps.com \u2013 it\u2019s a fake link that scammers hope you won\u2019t notice. Notice it is uspsts.top\u2026and not usps.com. This is a common scam going around called \u2018typosquatting\u2019 that I\u2019ve written about in other articles where a scammer uses a domain that looks close to a real website. Next, the text says \u201cpls\u201d which is lingo you likely wouldn\u2019t see in correspondence from\u00a0the USPS.\u00a0Scammers often make typos or use poor grammar when communicating, so always double-check.<\/p>\n<p>Red Flag 2: Scammers are sending\u00a0emails, texts,\u00a0and even occasionally there could be a phone call that is regarding an issue with package delivery. It may be something like this text I received that has a link where they\u2019ll end up asking for information, or you may be asked to pay a \u201cshipping fee\u201d to get your package.<\/p>\n<p>Use Protection: Be sure to always have good antivirus protection running on your devices to prevent any disasters from h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ening if you were to click on a malicious link. You can find my reviews of the best antivirus protection at CyberGuy.com.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Holiday-package-embed.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Watch out for fake emails about package deliveries. \" class=\"wp-image-24896764\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Holiday-package-embed.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Holiday-package-embed.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Holiday-package-embed.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Watch out for fake emails about package deliveries. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_avoid_package_delivery_scams\"><\/span>How to avoid package delivery scams<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>If you are expecting a package and you\u2019re wondering if you\u2019ve received real information or not about it, the best way to check is to go to the original confirmation you received about shipping. You most likely received an email regarding your package, and if you go to that email to get your order number, you should be able to look up the status of your order directly on any website.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Charity_scams\"><\/span>2. Charity scams<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Sadly, charity scams aren\u2019t new, but they are way more prevalent during\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/lifestyle\">the holiday season<\/a>\u00a0since scammers are hoping you\u2019re feeling more generous during this time of year.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes scammers may create fake names of organizations to get you to\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/politics\/finance\">donate money,<\/a>\u00a0or they may reach out to you via phone\/email\/text posing as someone working for a legitimate charity. <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social media<\/a> has also become a popular place for charities to market themselves to reach more eyes in hopes of donations, so scammers may try and pose about fake charities.<\/p>\n<p>These schemes will try and appeal to\u00a0your emotions\u00a0during this season, so be sure double check where you donate your money so you don\u2019t fall for a scam.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Scam-feature-1.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Holiday scammers have several methods for tricking people into giving them money. \" class=\"wp-image-24897015\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Scam-feature-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Scam-feature-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Scam-feature-1.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Holiday scammers have several methods for tricking people into giving them money. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_avoid_charity_scams\"><\/span>How to avoid charity scams<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Never give your money to anyone immediately who approaches you or reaches out on behalf of any organization without doing your own independent research. Either do a little googling or check with a family member to see if it\u2019s real and if it is, you should be able to donate on an official website or to an official address. You can always mention this to anyone who asks you to donate somewhere \u2013 don\u2019t fall into the pressure of donating right then and there.<\/p>\n<p>Also, always double-check the name of an organization. Sometimes (especially online) scammers will alter the name of a known organization slightly to trick you into donating.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Social_media_gift_exchange_scam\"><\/span>3. Social media gift exchange scam\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The Better Business Bureau is warning about a gift exchange scam and a new twist that is occurring in recent holiday seasons. It\u2019s an online version of the popular \u201cSecret Santa\u201d gift exchange. However, the BBB says these\u00a0social media-driven\u00a0gift exchanges are actually pyramid schemes and you will most likely be disappointed if you participate.<\/p>\n<p>In the past few years, variations of the gift exchange have popped up, with someone asking you to select a random person and send them a gift to pay it forward. Another asks you to exchange\u00a0bottles of wine\u00a0with someone else, and while it seems fun and light-hearted, you don\u2019t know who is on the receiving end.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_avoid_social_media_gift_exchange_scams\"><\/span>How to avoid social media gift exchange scams<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>It may sound nice to send a holiday gift to a stranger in turn for receiving multiple gifts yourself, but you\u2019re never going to receive many (if any) gifts at all. Don\u2019t participate in gift exchanges with anyone you don\u2019t know, or you won\u2019t be able to guarantee you\u2019ll actually be gifting someone who isn\u2019t a scammer.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Gift-card-scam.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Scammers sometimes use people's gift cards.\" class=\"wp-image-24896672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Gift-card-scam.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Gift-card-scam.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Gift-card-scam.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Scammers sometimes use people\u2019s gift cards.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Gift_card_scams\"><\/span>4. Gift card scams<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Gift card scams are another popular method that has been rising in popularity recently, but it\u2019s especially important to watch out for the possibilities since you may be purchasing gift cards for\u00a0friends or family\u00a0for the holidays.<\/p>\n<p>Scammers often steal gift cards and use the information before they make it look like they didn\u2019t. There are a number of methods that they\u2019ll trick you using gift cards, so if you can send an online one (so that you can ensure you\u2019ve purchased it on a legitimate, official website) that would be a much safer alternative.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_avoid_gift_card_scams\"><\/span>How to avoid gift card scams<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>If you\u2019re getting anyone a gift card and buying it in person, be sure to check that the package hasn\u2019t been tampered with. Double-check that nothing on the packaging looks suspicious since scammers will try and make it seem like the package was sealed, but they will already have used the gift card so you\u2019re essentially buying a useless\u00a0piece of plastic.<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/12\/05\/beware-of-these-four-holiday-scams\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Beware of these four holiday scams&#8221; It\u2019s a busy time of year for everyone. You may be planning your meals for hosting or\u00a0traveling to see loved ones,\u00a0and you\u2019re more likely than not starting to think about gifts to buy before the new year. Scammers know how easy it is to catch you off guard during&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":521749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/Scam-feature.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[136779,66,70375,68,71101],"class_list":["post-521748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-12-5-22","tag-christmas","tag-cybersecurity","tag-holidays","tag-scams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}