As the holidays rapidly approach, it’s important to remember to stay alert against financial scams that could add more stress to your already busy season. Financial scams are everywhere all year round, but scammers often take advantage of the holiday season by posing as friends and family, people in need, or even mail carriers asking for sensitive information. Keep reading to learn how to spot common scams that pop up during the holidays.
A Deal Seems Too Good to Be True
While many legitimate sales and offers are happening during the holidays, remember that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Social media is a prime environment for scams as these platforms gain popularity every day. One example of a common pyramid scheme scam circulating is a post that invites you to participate in a gift exchange, promising that if you send the post author money or another type of gift and re-share their post, you’ll receive several gifts in return. Additional scam examples include surveys that promise you money or people posting expensive items for sale for extremely low prices on Facebook Marketplace or local garage sale sites. It’s best to stay away from these and always approach purchasing via social media with caution. You should also never share your personal or financial information over social media.
You Receive a Package Notification that Includes a Link
With many people ordering gifts for the holidays, it’s easy to fall for scams that involve shipping information. Some shipping updates are legitimate, but others are not. You may receive a text or email with a fraudulent link for tracking information or updates about your package. You may also receive communication saying that a package was unable to be delivered, often due to an “incomplete address.” These communications also contain a link, prompting you to fill in your complete address and share more information. You should never click on a link in a text or email from a sender you don’t recognize. These links could download malware onto your device and allow scammers to access your personal information.
You’re Being Asked to Purchase Gift Cards
Gift card scams are common, so it’s especially important to be aware of these during the holidays. These scams often include an email or text appearing to be from someone you know, asking you for help in purchasing multiple gift cards for a holiday party. Scammers use this tactic because gift cards are difficult to trace. You should always be wary of someone asking you to purchase gift cards and directly reach out to the person who supposedly contacted you to ask if their request was legitimate.
A Note About Our Core Conversion
It’s important to be aware of banking scams this time of year, especially since First Independent Bank recently underwent a Core Conversion. If you receive a text message or email saying it’s from First Independent Bank and it asks you to log into your account, remember: do not click any links until you can verify that the request or link is legitimate. The only text messages you should receive from First Independent Bank at this time are multi-factor authentication alerts.
We will also never request your personal or banking account information through our social media platforms like Facebook. If you do receive any messages from what appears to be “First Independent Bank – Minnesota” this holiday season, you should immediately report the conversation and block the profile. You can find a direct link to our page here if you ever need to verify a Facebook Messenger Conversation or reply to a public comment.
You may also receive scam calls during the holiday season, with scammers posing as one of our Customer Service Representatives. If you suspect a scam, simply make an excuse, hang up the call, and directly reach out to your local First Independent Bank branch for verification and further assistance verifying or securing your account(s). You can find all our local First Independent Bank branch phone numbers here.
This blog can be a guide to help you avoid financial scams this holiday season. If you or a loved one falls victim to a scam, be sure to report it to your local law enforcement and inform your local bank right away. You may also want to report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission. Doing this can help you recover any losses and prevent the scammer from taking more money from you. Stay alert and don’t let scammers steal your holiday cheer!