FTC WARNS SHOPPERS SCAMMERS ARE SHOPPING FOR YOUR PERSONAL INFO THIS HOLIDAY SEASONOF SCAMS

The holidays are a busy time for everyone, including scammers.

While you’re making shopping lists and travel plans, scammers are making plans to steal your money and personal information.

Holiday scams include everything from spoofed online stores, fake shipping notifications, and phishing emails to gift card scams, fake jobs, fraudulent charities, and more.

As the nation’s consumer protection agency, the Federal Trade Commission works to stop unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent practices in the marketplace.

The agency conducts investigations, sues companies and people that break the law, and works to get money back to people.

Fil de Banate is an attorney with the FTC’s East Central Region, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio where he focuses on consumer protection, including investigating frauds and scams and filing civil lawsuits in federal court to stop fraudulent operations.

He says the holidays are prime hunting grounds for unsuspecting consumers.

Benate added there aren’t many new scams out there because scammers know people will typically fall for the same ones.

The FTC also alerts consumers and businesses about scams it’s monitoring and educates them about their rights and responsibilities.

Benatay says if you believe you’ve been a victim of a Holiday scammer there are several things you can do.

If you want more information on current scam trends you can go to FTC.GOV/Consumer Alerts and sign up for emails from the FTC.