Protect Your Money from Scams
Part two of this short series provides additional information about the many common scams designed to steal your money as you do your online shopping during the holiday season. 1
Package Delivery Confirmation Scams
This scam is especially popular during the holidays when people receive gifts through the mail that they may not be expecting.
The scammers call or email claiming to be from the U.S. Postal Service or a major shipping company and state that you have a package waiting for delivery. To ensure the package is meant for you, you are asked to provide personal information, which the scammers steal to use to open credit accounts in your name.
The US Postal Service Response
The U.S. Postal Service does not call or email people and ask for personal information if there is a problem with a delivery. 2
Don’t let these scams dampen your holiday spirits
Instead, take the following precautions to protect your money while shopping online:
• Always use difficult-to-guess, unique passwords on every account.
• If you’re using shopping apps, focus only on official retailer apps found on the retailer’s website or are putable app marketplace, which offer stronger security.
• Never provide your credit card information unless you are on a secure site, showing “https” at the beginning of the URL and the lock symbol.
• Use two-factor authentications on your accounts. Two-factor authentications require you to provide two pieces of evidence when logging into an account. It presents an extra layer of security to make it more difficult for someone who isn’t you to log into your account. 3
• Monitor credit card bills and bank statements as well as app and other online transactions for unauthorized purchases or withdrawals. Immediately contact your bank if you see anything suspicious. Also, you may want to consider signing up for alert services. Many credit card issuers, banks, and mobile app providers offer services that notify you about certain account activities, such as recent logins from unrecognized devices.
###Larry Marvin
LifeCrafter – Money $ense
Sources:
For more help or information, go to www.fdic.gov or call the FDIC toll-free at 1-877-ASK-FDIC(1-877-275-3342). 2
