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Can You Spot a Holiday Scam?

Know which frauds to watch out for this holiday season

Randy Lilleston and John Waggoner

En español

Published May 04, 2021

/ Updated November 16, 2023

8 Questions

a96238d3-b6be-4f13-8db5-18be8faf8640

Can You Spot a Holiday Scam?

[ {
 "question" : "When you buy a gift card at your local store, you should:\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Always pay for it with cash.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Make sure its PIN number hasn’t been exposed.",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Use it within 60 days of purchase.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Never use it for items on sale.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "According to the Better Business Bureau, scammers will expose and obtain PIN numbers from gift cards, then replace them on store racks and wait for the cards to be purchased. They then can strip the value out of the cards, sometimes before the purchaser even is aware of what happened.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Anyone who demands payment via gift card for anything other than merchandise from the company that issued the card is always this, according to the Federal Trade Commission:\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "A scammer",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Improving security",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Offering you a good deal",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Telling the truth",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "“No real business or government agency will ever tell you to buy a gift card to pay them,” the FTC warns on its website. “No matter what they say, that’s a scam.”\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "How can you tell if a retail website might be fake?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "The web address is a variation of a known site (such as “walmart-shop.com”).",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "There is no encryption or security.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "The site has grammar or spelling errors.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "All of the above.",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "“Any site can be made to look like an Amazon.com,” said Michael Bruemmer, vice president of consumer protection for credit reporting agency Experian. He advises looking at a site’s web address, using better-known retailers and making sure the site uses a secure encrypted payment system.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "In a recent survey by Experian, this percentage of respondents don’t shop on a personal, protected internet connection.\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "28%",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "42%",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "57%",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "81%",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Instead, shoppers use public Wi-Fi or connections without spam and malware protection, which can give thieves an opening to intercept and steal credit card numbers and other data.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Not all holiday scams are online. A common scam involves the telephone solicitation of funds for fake charities. How can you determine if a charity that is soliciting money from you is legitimate?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Ask the charity.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Look at their website.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Use Charity Navigator or Give.org to research the charity.",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Trust your instincts.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Both groups examine the financial documents and profiles of charities to assess their operations.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Another common scam involves the sale of “letters from Santa” to children. According to a BBB spokeswoman, why is the identity information of children particularly valuable?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Parents may not check a child’s credit record for many years",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Retailers can’t tell the difference between adult and child names",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Children generally have excellent credit profiles",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Parents are responsible for fraudulent purchases in a child’s name",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "“In those cases, you’re sharing your child’s personally identifiable information, which could be used for identity theft,” said Katherine Hutt, national spokeswoman for the BBB. “There are very nefarious reasons for wanting a child’s information.”\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "There are many ways to make your holiday purchases. What kind of consumer protections are provided by peer-to-peer payment apps like Cash App, Zelle or Venmo? \n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "They have the same consumer protections as your credit card.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "They offer more fraud protection than your credit card, by law.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "They offer less protection against fraud than your credit card.",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "These apps do not offer consumers the same level of fraud protection as credit cards. Like gift cards, they are favored by criminals because their transactions are nearly impossible to trace. They are generally only intended to be used to transfer money between people you&nbsp;personally know, like family, friends, the babysitter or the lawn service.&nbsp;\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "You receive a text noting that your U.S. Postal Service, UPS or FedEx delivery has been kept on hold because of an issue with your address, with a link you can click to provide more information. You should:\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Contact the source directly (not through the text or link provided) to see if there’s a problem.",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "If it appears to be from a major delivery service, click the link to correct the errors in your address.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Send a text in response, requesting more details.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Americans have been receiving an endless stream of fake delivery texts from scammers phishing for your personal information. If you think it might be legitimate, don’t click on the link provided unless you can verify that it’s legitimate with the delivery service, independent of the text (calling their customer service number or checking the tracking number, if provided, online). \n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
} ]

Quiz Progress

0 Correct

0 Incorrect