Don't fall for these holiday scams - get your last minute shopping done safely

Don't fall for these holiday scams - get your last minute shopping done safely

The two biggest shopping days of the year may be over, but if you haven't checked out all the items on our list, here are some of the best Christmas sales still available. Be warned, however, that there are still plenty of Christmas scams circulating on the Internet.

In our Black Friday scam summary, we highlighted several of the following scams, many of which are still circulating online, according to a new study by Check Point Research (opens in new tab).

The holiday shopping season is a stressful time of year even for the simple-minded, but things could be even worse if you are a victim of fraud or identity theft. If you'll be doing much of your shopping online this year, here are three scams to watch out for to make sure your last-minute purchases are safe.

Paying for the gifts you buy this year can be a challenge. Check Point security researchers have seen a surge in phishing campaigns in which scammers pose as employees and ask HR or managers to change account transfer information.

In these emails, scammers ask for updated banking information and details before the next payday. For most employees in the U.S., that is December 15, and receiving last-minute gifts and spending the holidays in general is a real nightmare.

Since this scam targets HR and managers, there is not much you can do to avoid it. However, you should keep an eye on your inbox and make sure you don't receive an email saying that your account transfer details have changed. It is also a good idea to let someone at your company know about this scam.

All purchases made during the holiday season are shipped by companies such as UPS, FedEx, and DHL. If you ordered a lot of items on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, your inbox is likely full of emails from both online retailers and shipping companies.

In a currently prevalent holiday scam, scammers impersonating delivery companies ask users to confirm their email addresses. While this appears innocuous, clicking on the link in the following email takes the user to a page where credentials are collected.

In this case, a close examination of the email address reveals that the sender address is not actually that of UPS. To avoid falling for this or other scams, always verify the sender address before replying to an email or clicking on a link in the body of an email.

There is nothing worse than shopping during the holiday season and realizing that the items you ordered online have not arrived. Scammers know this feeling all too well, which is why they use failed delivery emails in their campaigns.

The email below informs users that their package did not arrive, but that they can reschedule delivery by clicking on the included link. This link is not from the official UPS website, but from "rahuldubey[.] com," which is highly suspect, but panicked shoppers may click on it because the scammers have instilled a sense of urgency that their packages may not arrive in time for the holiday season.

The first thing to do when you receive such an email is to check the website of the retailer from whom you ordered the item to see if there really was a delivery problem. That way, you can easily tell if it is a scam or not without putting yourself in danger by clicking on the link in the email.

To avoid being scammed this holiday shopping season, you can take a few steps to ensure that you get all the items you ordered without having to provide any financial or other personal information.

First of all, only buy products from authentic and trusted sources. In other words, shop at known retailers and do not follow the deals sent to you via email or text message. Instead, go directly to the retailer's site to see if they really have a great deal.

At the same time, be wary of the domain name of the site you are shopping on. Look-alike domains acquired through typosquatting may appear legitimate at first glance, but a closer look reveals that the company name may be misspelled or the site may be using the wrong top-level domain (e.g., .tv instead of .com).

Password reset emails are another thing to watch out for in your inbox. With so much shopping going on during the holiday season, scammers will try to trick users into giving up their credentials by making them think their passwords have been reset for Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and other popular retailers.

The holiday season is one of the busiest times of the year for scammers, but if you shop carefully and keep your cool, you can avoid being duped by holiday scams.

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