Better Business Bureau cautions holiday shoppers about ‘12 Scams of Christmas’

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - Online shopping scam reports to the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker remain just under the all-time highs reported last year.

The Federal Trade Commission says in 2020, there were more than 393,000 complaints of scams with losses of more than $252 million.

In 2021, those reports rose to nearly 419,000 complaints and nearly $400 million lost to scammers.

So far this year, through September, there were nearly 235,000 complaints and about $270 million lost.

How can you make sure that when you’re doing your holiday shopping this season, you don’t become part of those statistics? The Better Business Bureau is warning people about the “12 Scams of Christmas.” Among them-- misleading social media ads, gift exchanges or virtual events; holiday apps that may contain hidden fees or malware; fake shipping or delivery notifications; and alerts about compromised accounts.

“If you are getting a text that says your account has been compromised, and obviously you are panicked, make sure that you then take it offline and go directly to your Amazon, PayPal, Netflix, your bank account to figure out where and if actually it was truly compromised,” said Paula Fleming of the Better Business Bureau.

Other scams to watch out for are deals that are too good to be true on hot items, promises of free gift cards, spoofed websites, fake charities, temporary holiday jobs and puppy scams. Click here for more tips.

Watch the video to see our Cat Viglienzoni’s full conversation with Paula Fleming.

Copyright 2022 WCAX. All rights reserved.