Be wary of scams, especially around holiday shopping, travel

The holidays are the most wonderful time of the year — for scammers. 

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, thousands of Americans fall victim to a host of scams each year during the holiday season. Scammers will try to take advantage of people and rob them of their hard-earned money and personal information, creating a stagnant and viscous cloud of misery and despair over what should be a joyous time of year.

A few common holiday scams: non-delivery scams, where goods or services you find and pay for online never arrive; non-payment scams, where a seller ships purchased goods or services, but never receives payment; auction fraud, where an item purchased was misrepresented on an auction website; and gift card fraud, where a seller asks you to pay with a pre-paid card.

According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center’s 2024 report, credit card fraud accounted for $199 million in losses. Non-payment and non-delivery scams cost consumers more than $785 million the same year.  

Recently, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) joined colleagues in warning their constituents about another holiday menace: travel scams.  

“While the winter holidays are one of the busiest travel seasons of the year, they’re also one of the busiest seasons for scammers impersonating airlines, hotels, and rental platforms,” Hassan said. “As millions of Americans prepare to travel to see their loved ones over the next few weeks, everyone should also prepare to protect themselves against rampant travel scams.”

Travel scams cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars each year, according to the Consumer Sentinel Network, and are rapidly increasing in frequency. This sort of scam spiked nearly 30% over the holidays in 2024, according to the Mastercard Economics Institute.

“Criminals are persistent during the holiday season, targeting travelers with scams involving fraudulent car rentals, airline tickets, hotel reservations, and more. Recognizing these schemes is an important step toward protecting millions of Americans and safeguarding billions of dollars,” said Kathy Stokes, senior director of fraud prevention, AARP Fraud Watch Network.

On Dec. 3, the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau of the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office alerted Granite Staters about what to know when doing holiday shopping to identify and avoid holiday scams.

When shopping online, verify websites and be cautious of deals that seem too good to be true. Using credit cards can give you an extra layer of protection. Never buy gift cards for someone you don’t know and avoid sharing card details with anyone. Be wary of fake charities — confirm their registration with the New Hampshire Charitable Trusts Unit at doj.nh.gov/bureaus/charitable-trusts before making a donation.

Despite these risks becoming more and more common for consumers, and scammers laying new traps every day, the FBI has tips to ensure safe holiday commerce:

• Make sure to practice good cybersecurity hygiene: don’t click on any suspicious links or attachments in emails, on websites or on social media. Phishing scams convince you to clink suspicious links and reveal personal information like your legal name, password or bank account number and could result in unwittingly downloading malware to your device.
• When making a purchase from an online merchant or selling an item online, do your research and check their reviews. Make sure their website address begins with "https" — if it doesn’t, run away. Avoid dealing with buyers who request their package be shipped using a certain method to avoid customs or taxes inside another country.
• Never wire monies directly to a seller and don’t pay for items using pre-paid gift cards. Use a credit card when shopping online, and diligently check the credit card statement so you’re able to report suspicious transactions and contact your credit card company to dispute a strange or unintended charge.
• Don’t get scammed on shipping — always get tracking numbers for items purchased online so you’re sure when they’re shipped and you’re able to follow the delivery process. Be suspicious of credit card purchases where the address of the card holder doesn’t match the shipping address when you’re selling. Receive the card holder’s authorization before shipping any products.

“During the holiday season, the number of scam attacks surges around the world, and the U.S. is no exception. The Global Anti-Scam Alliance applauds this bipartisan initiative of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee to alert consumers to the augmented risks and to the methods used by scam criminals. Remember, urgency is the No. 1 social engineering tactic used by scammers during the holidays, so resist any efforts to pressure you to pay for holiday travel immediately or via unusual payment methods,” wrote Nils Mueller, director of the North America chapter of the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, in a release.

If you believe you are the victim of a scam, contact the NH Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau at 603-271-3641, or file a complaint at doj.nh.gov/citizens/consumer-protection-antitrust-bureau/consumer-complaints.