WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Joint Economic Committee, released an alert warning consumers about Black Friday and Cyber Monday scams. The report details the heightened risk of scams that consumers face during the holiday shopping season – last year, phishing emails mimicking major U.S. retail brands like Walmart and Target surged by more than 2,000 percent during the holiday season. The report also provides tips for consumers to protect themselves from common online shopping scams.

“If your inbox is anything like mine, each holiday season brings an ever-growing flood of emails promising huge discounts and exclusive deals,” said Senator Hassan. “While some of those deals may be legitimate, many are sent by scammers trying to steal the money that you’ve saved up to buy gifts for loved ones. I encourage people to follow the guidance in this report, share it with your friends and family, and ensure that your holiday spending doesn’t end up swept away in the flood of Black Friday fraud.”

The report is part of Senator Hassan’s ongoing comprehensive effort to combat scams. In recent months, Senator Hassan opened investigations into SpaceX and Match Group, pushing the companies to take steps to curtail the use of their tools or platforms by scammers.

Read the Senator’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday scams alert here, or see key tips from the alert below. 

Tips for Combating Common Online Shopping Scams 

• Be skeptical of deeply discounted items. If a deal seems too good to be true, it often is.
• Look out for suspicious emails, phone calls, and texts, including messages from unknown numbers or from email addresses that do not match official company websites.
• Be wary of emails that demand urgent action, such as resetting your password, resolving an issue with a package delivery, or claiming a bargain or giveaway that is about to expire – as scammers frequently try to rush their targets into providing sensitive information or making a fraudulent payment.
• Avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from emails, texts, and social media, which can direct you to a fraudulent website or install malware on your device.

o    Instead, to address concerns with your account or verify a discount from a company you trust, go directly to the vendor’s website. Do not use contact information listed in an email, text, or ad, which can steer you to a scammer.

• Research unfamiliar sellers on sites like BBB.org, where you can check customer reviews and complaints.
• Before making a purchase, look for signs of a fraudulent website, including misspellings, extra words, or unusual domains in the website’s URL with extra characters or different spellings of popular brand names, for example.
• Ensure that any website where you are entering your payment information has “https” in its URL, which indicates that the site has a protected network connection.
• Use a strong password and enable two-factor authentication on your accounts, as this can make it harder for bad actors to access them.
• Monitor your bank account and credit card statements for suspicious transactions.
• Be wary of sellers who ask you to pay with a money transfer, cryptocurrency, or pre-paid gift cards. These irreversible, difficult to trace payment methods are a favorite of scammers. 

 

 

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