Social media scams
These good-looking products that might show up in your social media feed are definitely super tempting, but even so, you should think twice before you decide to enter your credit card and order anything.
The items might be counterfeit, totally different than what’s on the picture, or might simply never show up on your front door. That’s why you need to look into the company’s background by using the website of Better Business Bureau before paying anything. If you already paid for the products and you think you might have been scammed, then you can easily report the company to BBB, too.
Online gift exchanges
Look out for online gift exchanges, which are everywhere this time of the year. Some of the most popular scams might include exchanging bottles of wine, but also $10 gift cards, and submitting your personal info on a website where you send money to some strangers just to “pay it forward”.
There’s even an updated version of this, where you are being encouraged to buy a $10 gift for an unknown, secret online dog. If you really want to exchange gifts for Christmas, keep your interests around your friends, families, and your coworkers, not to some online stranger.
Holiday apps
When we say holiday apps, we don’t mean those delicious treats that you eat at a friend’s house. We’re talking about those holiday apps where you can “clearly” see where Santa is, or you can chat with him.
Even if it seems like a wonderful idea for an app and it sounds incredibly innocent, you have to make sure you review privacy policies and pay attention to what type of information gets collected, as free apps might contain malware. That’s why you need to be fully aware of the danger and check everything twice.
Fake account alerts
If you get an email, text message, or even a phone call that says your Amazon, Paypal, or even your bank account has noticed some suspicious activities and you really need to take instant action, it’s definitely a scam. But if there’s something about your account that concerns you, you can go to the company directly and check.
Free gift cards
We’re all frugal here, so one’s gotta love a freebie once in a while, and that’s the truth! However, if you got an email that required you to provide any kind of personal information to receive a free gift card, then you should think twice before clicking. It might be a scam.
These scams usually come in the form of emails, and they seem to be from legitimate companies. The best thing you can do is to mark the email as spam and never click on any of the links in there.
