Black Friday is here and Cyber Monday is coming up with people looking to spend their money shopping online. However, there are some things you need to be aware of to avoid getting scammed.
Online shopping fraud went up during the pandemic when people did most of their shopping online from the comfort of their own homes. This time of year, fraud goes up because people shop a lot.
Bryan Lewis, CEO of identity verification company Intellicheck, said “it’s a major problem.”
“Identity theft fraud has gone up 79% and it’s about a $24 billion loss to the economy every year,” he told WTOP.
Scammers are going to be looking to get your information by pretending to be places and stores you usually shop at.
“They’re going to say, ‘Here’s an amazing deal. Click on this attachment for a coupon’ … all in an effort to get your personal information,” Lewis said, noting that identity theft and account takeovers soared 90% last year, affecting more than 15.3 million Americans.
Lewis added that the easiest way for them to scam people is through email.
“You need to pay attention to that because they’re gonna say, ‘We need to update your information or we have a problem with your account; please reenter your info,'” said Lewis. “When you do that, they steal it and now they have your identity. They have your email password. They have whatever it takes to now go in and rob you.”
He adds that the average amount a scammer takes is over $2,100.
If you get scammed out of your money, you should report it to the Federal Trade Commission and also call your local law enforcement to report the crime.
Lewis also urged changing your passwords.
“If you don’t, you’re gonna get hit,” he said. “Don’t use the same passwords across anything that has any financial information in it.”
