Fraud Alerts

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, you may be looking to get the mom in your life a last-minute gift. Maybe you’re looking to get her a gift card for a favorite restaurant or spa. That’s great — gift cards are for gifts — but scammers might try to tell you otherwise.

You get a call out of the blue. The caller insists you owe money and says you’ll be arrested if you don’t pay immediately. You have no idea what she’s talking about. What do you do?

Refund checks totaling more than $18 million are in the mail to more than 281,724 Publishers Clearing House (PCH) customers eligible for a refund as a result of an FTC action. In their case, the FTC said PCH used language and designs to trick people into thinking they had to buy things to enter or increase their chances of winning a sweepstakes. According to the FTC’s complaint, PCH sent emails with deceptive subject lines that led people into thinking the emails were related to official documents, like tax forms.

Have you gotten a robocall about a discount on phone, TV, or internet services? Scammers are pretending to be businesses and making robocalls about “discounted services” if you pay with a gift card. It’s a scam. Here’s how the scam works so you can avoid it.

Have you ever gotten a text message about a package coming via the United States Postal Service? Maybe it confirmed your order, said a package is out for delivery, or said there’s a problem like unpaid postage, a missed delivery, or you need to update your shipping preferences. That text message will say to click a link to learn more or fix the problem. But there’s a good chance that text message that says it’s from USPS (or FedEx…or DHL…) is really from a scammer.

Did you know that people almost always open text messages? In a new Data Spotlight about the big jump in reported fraud losses involving text scams, the FTC notes a study finding open rates can be as high as 98%. Those are really good odds for a scammer. And when scammers get you to respond to their messages, they’re cashing in. Here’s how you can increase your chances of keeping your money safe.

Talking with your kids about your family’s rules and expectations is key to helping them establish good online habits. Some parents use parental controls to reinforce those good habits — and create safer online spaces for their kids to learn and play.

You’re online and get a message or pop-up alerting you to a problem with your computer. The message might even say or suggest it’s from Microsoft, Apple, or Geek Squad. Should you click immediately to see what it’s about? No, and here’s why.

Kids and video games often go together like peanut butter and jelly. Here’s something else that goes along with some video games: Ads competing for your kid’s attention at every stage of their video game-playing experience — while they look for video games on the app store, while they select and download games, and during gameplay. Learn how to deal with ads that encourage kids to spend money — sometimes without your knowledge or approval.

Online search results can offer significant benefits to consumers, helping people find what they’re looking for. But online search results are also used by scammers to steer you in the wrong direction.