BPD Community Alert: As the holiday season and shopping begins, fraudsters will look to take advantage. Holiday Phishing Attempts are considered to be one of the common holiday scams.
Likely phishing emails are nothing new to your inbox. However, you are likely to see an increase in these attempts over the holiday season.
Scammers will send emails impersonating legitimate companies (Amazon, Apple) offering “giveaways” or warning accounts (company, bank) are being compromised.
“Free Gift Cards” in exchange for information is another tactic.
Treat these emails with caution. Do not click any strange links or websites as they can contain malware.
Look for clues that the emails are fake: spelling mistakes, grammar, formatting errors.
Reporting Holiday Scams:
- Local Police Departments
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at https://www.ic3.gov/
- If the scammers obtained your Social Security number, go to IdentityTheft.gov (https://www.identitytheft.gov/), to see what steps to take including how to monitor your credit.