Holiday Scams You Need To Know About

The holiday season is upon us, which means additional shopping, spending, and traveling for many. These increased transactions are looked at as a golden opportunity in the eyes of scammers. To better keep our members protected and well-aware this holiday season, Honor has put together a list of potential consumer scams to watch out for this shopping season.

Home Delivery Scam

Scam: The homeowner finds a delivery notice on their front door notifying of an "unsuccessful" attempted delivery which directs the homeowner to call a number.

Prevention: Never call back nor provide any type of personal or financial information. If you were expecting a delivery, research it further to find out if it's legitimate.

Coupon Scam

Scam: Consumer responds to an offer for online coupons requiring personal or financial information including card or password information.

Prevention: If responding to online coupons, never provide personal or financial information including card or password information.

Fake Charity Scam

Scam: The consumer receives mail or in person to give money to a charity. The letter or person asking for the donation doesn't give up. Don't give money to a charity until the consumer has researched them. Take extra caution when asked in person or at your home.

Prevention: Don't give money to a charity until the consumer has researched them.

Gift Purchase Scam

Scam: Scammers advertise popular gifts on websites and social networks, even if they don't actually have the popular items.

Prevention: Take extra caution when considering the purchase of a popular item. Researching the website and social networks is a must.

Gift Card Scam

Scam: Consumer purchases a gift card on a online site or at a retail location. When the gift card is used, there is no value on the card/card number.

Prevention: Consider purchasing a gift card at your credit union. This will help secure the value placed on the gift card when used.

Technology Support Scam

Scam: Consumer is contacted and advised to provide information because of a threat to their computer/mobile device.

Prevention: Never provide any information when a technology support team is contacting you. If you are having technical problems, the consumer should do the contacting to the technology 

support service.

Fraudulent/Fake Check Scam

Scam: One of the most popular scams involves scammers convincing unwitting victims to accept fraudulent/fake checks. Checks are much higher than the amount expected. Scammers then used a variety of creative, clever stories to explain the compensation discrepancies and convince victim to send back overpayment via cash-like payment methods or wire transfer.

Prevention: Never send funds back on any overpayment check.

Electronic Holiday Greeting Card Scam

Scam: Clicking on a phony online greeting card can result in downloading a keystroke logging program.

Prevention: Take extra caution before clicking on an online greeting card. Check with the person who is sending it to confirm it was from that person.

You can also view this list and up to date fraud alerts on Honor's website.  If you think you have been a suspect of fraud, contact your financial institution right away!  If you are an Honor member, you can call our Member Solutions Center at 800.442.2800.

Don’t forget to follow us on twitter @honorcu and let us know what you want to hear about next week using #askhonorcu!  

Listen to 97.5 Y-Country's Wild Bill and Honor's Scott talk about some holiday scams on Mason Jar Monday!

Three Tips To Save On Holiday Shopping

There’s only 9 days left until the biggest shopping day of the entire year!  Whether you are planning on braving the Black Friday crowds bright and early or sleeping in and wait for the crowds to disburse a little bit, here are three tips to save your wallet this holiday shopping season!

1.  Plan ahead and stick to your mission!  The aisles and displays at stores are meant to draw you in and inspire you to fill that cart fuller.  Avoid impulse buys that you don’t really need by making a solid plan of what you want to accomplish beforehand and stick to it!  Along these lines means making and sticking to a budget, too!  Online budgeting tools, like Honor’s MoneyDesktop, can help you figure out what your budget is and help you stay disciplined in sticking to it!

2.  Price-Match!  More and more stores are willing to match prices, but you’ll never know unless you ask!  Take advantage of that smart phone in your pocket and do a quick search of items you find in the store you are currently in to make sure it’s not cheaper elsewhere.  If it is, show the cashier your smartphone and see if they will match it!  The most they can say is no!

3.  Coupons! Coupons! Coupons!  All that mail that you typically put right in the recycle bin or emails you usually swipe to delete before opening might be worth a second look this time of year!  Paying attention to who is having the sales will help you create your plan and stick to your mission like we mentioned in tip #1!  The dollars that some of those coupons can save you collectively can really add up meaning extra money that stays in your mason jar!

Don’t forget to follow us on twitter @honorcu and let us know what you want to hear about next week using #askhonorcu! 

Source - http://www.bankrate.com/financing/saving-money/jean-chatzky-4-holiday-shopping-secrets/?ic_id=News4

Easy Ways To Protect Yourself From Holiday Fraud

Did you know that according to many recent news outlets, November is the most active month for card fraud?!  As holiday shopping and spending ramps up, so do the bad guys that aim at ripping people off.  Don’t let this stop you from going about your holiday shopping routines, though.  With a few simple precautions, you can stay a step ahead of fraudsters.

• When paying for a purchase with a debit card, opt for credit vs. debit.  Signing is safer than entering your pin at the checkout!
• Monitor your accounts for transactions that you don’t recognize
• Take only the cards you will need for shopping
• Put your card away after each use.  Don’t put it in your pocket
• Completely fill out receipts, don’t leave blank space on card receipts
• Hide your card from others.  Believe it or not, there are people who stand in line at checkouts and memorize others card numbers

Don’t forget to follow us on twitter @honorcu and let us know what you want to hear about next week using #askhonorcu!  

Did you miss this week's Mason Jar Monday?  No worries!  You can listen to 97.5 Y-Country's Wild Bill and Honor CU's Scott talk about holiday shopping card safety right here!