WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, last week U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Joint Economic Committee, led an effort to warn American consumers of the heightened risk of online retail scams during the holiday shopping season. Her alert is part of her ongoing comprehensive effort to combat scams, which she launched earlier this year.
Ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Senator Hassan went on CNN’s The Lead and NBC News to warn viewers about scams and discuss her work to prevent them. Watch the CNN interview here and the NBC interview here, or read key excerpts below:
Senator Hassan on CNN’s The Lead:
Erica Hill (CNN): The top Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee joining me now, Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire. Senator, good to have you with us.… So how much more difficult is it to actually spot a scam this year?
Senator Hassan: Well. It’s very difficult. And Erica, thanks for having me on and for helping me spread the word about these scams. We saw a 2,000% increase last holiday season over the previous one in these phishing emails that, as you say, look like they’re coming from a legitimate retailer. There’s been a doubling of fraudulent websites that also look like they belong to a legitimate retailer. So I want to make people aware that with Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming, the scammers are out in force and there are things you can do to protect yourself – because you’ve saved money all year so you can buy your loved one holiday gifts, and you really want to make sure that you can hold on to that money. Scams generally are costing people millions and millions of dollars. It’s a $1 trillion industry now, globally, and it’s outpacing the illicit drug trade.
Senator Hassan on NBC’s Meet the Press Now:
Ryan Nobles (NBC): I spoke with Senator Maggie Hassan, who’s the top Democrat on a key Congressional committee that studies the economy, as she sounds the alarm about online shopping scammers. The Senator shared tips on what to watch for, how to report these scams, and what Congress is trying to do about it.
Senator Hassan: Globally we’ve seen just this explosion of scams. Right now, globally it's a trillion dollar industry—it’s outpacing the illicit drug trade. At the holidays it's even more acute. So I'm really trying to sound the alarm for people. Black Friday is coming up. Cyber Monday is coming up. People have saved their hard-earned dollars so that they can buy their loved ones holiday gifts. … I want people to really be aware that anybody can be the victim of a scam. I've talked to constituents all over New Hampshire who've lost their life savings. And it’s just important to be aware. You want to make sure that you are buying from a legitimate vendor through a legitimate website and protecting yourself and your loved ones.
Ryan Nobles (NBC): What can you as a Senator do to try and get in the way of this?
Senator Hassan: The Joint Economic Committee, where I’m the lead Democrat, we've launched an investigation…we’ve reached out to companies whose platforms are being manipulated by scammers, like dating platforms, for instance. We've reached out to Starlink, because Starlink technology is being used by whole compounds of scammers in Asia, to find out what they are doing at the private level to combat scammers. But it’s also really important that we have a cross-government approach.
###