The holiday season is completely upon us, and if you’re like most people you’re probably feeling a bit stressed. It’s important to not let your guard down as scammers up their activity around this time of the year. These are the holiday phone scams that you need to watch out for.
Romance Scams
Online dating is popular during the holidays. It’s cuffing season after all! If you’re using online dating and feel like you’ve met a special someone, make sure they’re not out to scam you! Romance scammers are quick to profess their love and then they’ll claim to be in trouble.
If your new love interest won’t meet you in person, or even Skype with you, this is a red flag. Don’t trust them, and definitely don’t share your personal and financial information with them.
Utility Scams
Imagine having no heat over Christmas. For many people in the U.S. this would not only be a nightmare, but potentially very dangerous as temperatures in the northern parts of the country go well below freezing.
Scammers, knowing this, will call pretending to be from local energy companies and they will threaten to cut the power or heat if a payment isn’t received. Many victims will panic and share their credit card information without a second thought.
Charity Scams
Many people are in a giving spirit during the holidays. Scammers will call posing as charities and soliciting donations from people during the Christmas season. These charities can range from cancer foundations to children’s organizations.
Whenever you want to donate money you can check to make sure that your donations will go towards what you want it to. You can use Charity Navigator to check charities ratings and what they use their donations for.
How to Protect Yourself
The best way to protect yourself is to user an iPhone phone number tracker tool to protect yourself from receiving these unwanted calls during the holidays. This time of the year is often stressful enough, so there’s no reason to make it worse by adding the extra aggravation of these annoying calls!