Don’t be Scammed This Holiday Season—Red Flags to Watch Out For

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December 06, 2023

Dear Friend:

The holiday season is here and with it, the scammers will be working overtime to take advantage of the spirit of giving. Here are some holiday scams and the red flags to watch out for:

  1. Fake look-alike websites
    The season brings countless emails with all sorts of offers.  Often they will appear to be from legitimate and well-known retailers, but sometimes they are not. Be wary of emails with links enclosed, and be sure to review the domain name of websites as scammers often use a similar name to the one they’re impersonating which may contain an extra letter or an abbreviated version of the real website name.
  2. Shopping for this year’s hot toy
    Every holiday season brings out the new popular toys that are in high demand and sell out fast. Be careful when doing an online search or looking at your social media feed, buy only from reputable stores and websites, and don’t be deceived by extra-low prices—if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
  3. Free gift cards
    Let’s face it, who doesn’t like the word “FREE?” Nobody knows that better than scammers who will take advantage of this by sending emails requesting personal information to receive free gift cards, often impersonating legitimate retailers and promising free gift cards to loyal customers. They may also use pop-up ads or send text messages with links saying you were randomly selected as the winner of a prize. If you receive an unsolicited email with gift card offers, do not open it. Instead, mark it as spam or junk. However, if you opened the email, do not click on any links.
  4. Fake shipping notifications
    As more consumers are making purchases online, especially during the holiday season, there is an increase in the number of notifications about shipping details from retailers and carriers. Scammers are using this new surge to send phishing emails with links enclosed that may allow unwanted access to your private information or download malware onto your device. They may also try to trick people into paying new shipping fees. If you receive a suspicious notification email, go to the retailer's website where you purchased the item and use their tracking tools to verify the sender's identity and avoid these scams.

For more information on shopping safely and smartly this holiday season, please visit the Better Business Bureau: https://www.bbb.org/all/holiday.

If you have questions about this or any other state-related issue, please feel free to call my District Office at (951) 680-6750 or message me directly by visiting my website at www.sen.ca.gov/Roth.

Happy Holidays!

RICHARD D. ROTH
Senator, 31st District