Shipping and delivery scams
People heavily rely on shipments when they do not have time to wander the store aisles in search of the perfect gift. The number of shipments increases considerably during the holiday season, with billions of packages being sent all over the U.S.
Scammers count on this seasonal upsurge and exploit people’s eagerness to receive the packages to its fullest. One of the most common rackets is for fraudsters to send you an email, informing you there’s a problem with the shipping. When you click the link, you end up on a fake website where you need to fill in your personal information.
The e-mails are graphic replicas of UPS, FedEx or the U.S. Postal Service websites, as well as retailers, banks and credit card companies, Katherine Hutt says. “People are shopping more now. Scammers are opportunists, so that’s when they pounce.”
