As the holidays fast approach, criminals are ever ready to steal your information. To prevent yourself from becoming victim, staying informed is critical. Below are some recommendations to help minimize the effect of social engineering and scams.

• Stay alert when receiving texts or phone calls from random numbers.
• Check phone numbers from the actual store, financial institution, or delivery website. In addition, verify a suspicious caller by hanging up and calling a number from the website of the supposed organization.
• Do not click any links from texts you randomly receive.
• Take any questions regarding orders or deliveries you conducted to the phone number from the company website or from the initial confirmation email the cardholder received after placing the order.
• Never reveal one-time passcodes to anybody when no cardholder-initiated transactions or inquiries occurred.
• AI Voice creation has come a long way in the last year. If you receive a phone call from a family member who is in immediate danger and they are requesting a ransom or personal information, please attempt to call your family member or other individuals involved with this family member to be sure they are safe.
• Urgent and authoritative behavior are common fraud techniques used to make the victim fall into a state of fear or anxiety.

Additional precautions to consider, especially during the holiday season:

• Only use legitimate sites when shopping online, spoofed, or fake websites could potentially expose your card information if that information is placed within the website.
• Always use a secure network or VPN while shopping online.
• Be leery of skimmers, always attempt to use Chip or Contactless transaction methods first. If the Point-of-Sale machine is forcing a swipe, there may be a skimmer attached and the chip port jammed.
• Limit what information you share online and choose tough security questions only you would know.
• Discounts or deals sent via email or SMS that are once in a lifetime savings or too good to be… are most likely too good to be true. Always check for these same deals on company websites or call a customer service rep with the company to confirm the existence of the deal.
• Always review and check your statements and credit reports (and free your credit if need be).

Taking the right precautions will help to keep you holiday season stress and scam free. For more information on holiday scams, check out our other blog posts 10 Ways to Avoid Holiday Fraud and Holiday Fraud #1 on the Naughty List.