By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
As holiday shoppers book flights, buy gifts, and prepare meals, experts warn that scammers are preparing as well. They are targeting consumers with increasingly sophisticated schemes that could rob them of both money and holiday cheer. In 2024 alone, nearly one-third of U.S. consumers reported falling victim to an online scam during the holiday season. Washingtonians lost more than $302 million to fraud and scams last year.
According to Quincy Crawford, a JPMorganChase Branch Manager, “scams are becoming increasingly more sophisticated, making them harder to detect than ever before.”
“The holidays are scammers’ busy season. From fake travel websites and false package delivery messages to phony charity donations, scammers take advantage of people’s spirit of generosity and bustling holiday schedule,” said Crawford. “Your best defense to protect yourself and loved ones is to stay educated on common and emerging scam tactics.”
“Scammers will go to great lengths to take advantage of generous holiday shoppers. People may notice unusual texts about missed packages or massive discounts on their favorite websites. Chase is here to educate consumers on popular scam tactics so they can help protect their money year-round, not just during the holidays,” he added.
To address the growing threat of scams, Chase hosts more than 1,000 fraud and scam education workshops annually across over 5,000 branches, aiming to educate the public and arm consumers with tools to safeguard themselves and their assets. These resources are designed to reduce risks that could dampen family celebrations.
Crawford advises families to stay alert.
“They’re only getting more sophisticated. I think the general thought is, yes, there are a lot more sophistication. There are a lot more scams,” says Crawford. “Unfortunately, there are a lot more people losing their money. But I also feel like a lot of the money that’s lost is really people falling for newer ways to do things. Things that aren’t really done by more known, larger companies. And if people focus on just a few habits or behaviors around the Internet, they could avoid a lot of this.”
He offered several key tips for staying safe:
Beware of Unrealistic Deals:
“When you have so many gifts to buy, you’ll want to look for bargains. However, make sure that the discounts you’re offered are legitimate. Scammers often lure buyers with massive discounts, especially on popular and sold-out items, often using fake websites or social media ads. If you think, ‘this deal is too good to be true,’ listen to your gut. It’s likely a scam,” said Crawford.
Shop with trusted retailers
When shopping online or on social media, make sure to only buy from trusted websites and vendors. Review the website’s URL and ensure that it starts with https:// (the ‘s’ stands for secure) as scammers can create fake websites to look like legitimate retailers. If you’re unfamiliar with a store, search for the name with terms like “scam,” “complaints,” or “reviews” to uncover any red flags.
“Be especially cautious when making purchases from social media marketplaces,” says Crawford. “Always verify the product exists before purchasing and use payments with purchase protections, like a credit card, to pay. Gift card scams typically begin with outreach from a scammer, often pretending to be someone else, who urgently pressures victims into buying specific gift cards and sharing the card numbers and PINs.”
According to Crawford, scammers use various stories, such as pretending to be government officials, tech support, friends or family in emergencies, prize promoters, utility companies, or online romantic interests. Remember: Legitimate organizations will never demand payment by gift card, and requests for gift card payments are a sign of a scam.
How you pay matters
“Not all payment methods offer purchase protection,” says Crawford. “When buying gifts for the holiday season, consider using your debit and credit cards, as they may provide protections that allow you to dispute a charge if you don’t receive what you paid for or it’s not as you expected. If you purchase something using payment methods like Zelle®, wire transfers, gift cards, or cash, and it turns out to be a scam, it’s unlikely you’ll get your money back. Only use Zelle® to pay others you know and trust.”
Seek out free resources
Give yourself peace of mind while shopping by using digital tools to monitor your personal information. For example, Chase Credit Journey offers free credit and identity monitoring. This includes alerts to let you know if your data is exposed in a data breach or on the dark web. You don’t have to be a Chase customer use it. Learn more about how to help protect yourself from scams this holiday season, visit Chase.com/Security.
Darcy Donahoe-Wilmot, Executive Director of Media Relations with JPMorganChase, assures people that Chase is in the business of educating customers and the public at large on first, navigating the dangers of scams and avoiding the shame that can come with it.
“There’s a certain level of like shame involved [being a victim of a scam],” says Donahoe-Wilmot. “We just want people to not feel ashamed and to come talk to us. We may not be able to stop what’s already happened, but hopefully there’s some education that can take place,”
“We can work with these individuals, we have community managers who are out doing these fraud and scam prevention workshops all the time to just bring groups of people together, whether it be a community center, a senior center, a school, where we can bring these large groups of people together and just try and help people become more comfortable with the fact that this is happening and what to do if it does happen,” she added.
