By Mary O’KEEFE

Scams happen year round and have become very sophisticated and very organized. Some scammers are able to get into and out of a person’s account quickly, sometimes while on the phone with their victim; other times even the most cautious people can find they have paid for something before discovering it was all fake.

The holidays are a very busy time for those who can’t wait to separate people from their money and identification.

“The two most prevalent holiday scams are non-delivery and non-payment crimes. In a non-delivery scam, a buyer pays for goods or services they find online, but those items are never received. Conversely, a non-payment scam involves goods or services being shipped but the seller is never paid,” according to the FBI.

There are also gift card and charity scams.

“Victims receive a spoofed email, call or text asking them to purchase multiple gift cards for personal or business reasons,” according to the FBI regarding gift cards. “[With charities] criminals set up fake charities and profit from persons who believe they are donating to a legitimate organization.”

Regarding local scams, Sgt. John Gilbert, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept.-Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station, said his deputies are not seeing one particular scam.

“We do get occasional scammers who state they are a member of a law enforcement organization and the victim has a warrant for their arrest. The scammer then directs the victim to wire money or get gift cards to satisfy the warrant,” Gilbert said. “Another one we see on occasion is the scammer stating he is the victim’s grandson and needs money [so he can be] bailed out of jail in a foreign country. We see the first scenario more often than the second,”

According to Norton (an antivirus and security software company), “The holiday season starts every year with Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday. Over the coming months, millions of people will shop online in search of the perfect gifts for their family and friends and, unfortunately, we’ll also see an increase in scammers trying to trick people into giving them money and personal information.”

This month Norton released its 2023 Cyber Safety Insights Report on holiday shopping. The report found that worldwide 95% of consumers are expected to shop online. In America that percentage is 97% – 45% are expected to do 50% or less of shopping online and 52% are expected to do more than half of their shopping online. Over half of those consumers in the report are concerned about security when shopping online with the biggest fear is having their personal details, like address, credit card and email information, compromised. About one in four consumers report they have been targeted by a scam when shopping online. Globally, consumers become victims to scams primarily when they are on social media or visit a third-party website.

The report found that the average loss due to scams is $1,500 in the U.S.

“[Our warning] for the holiday season is to be vigilant about vehicle and residential burglaries. As people shop, they may have their gifts openly displayed in their cars or at their homes. We advise the public to never have valuables in plain sight. Also, as people discard the boxes of their large ticket items, criminals may see that your home now has a brand new large TV, etc. We suggest breaking up the box and hiding the fact the home now has new expensive electronics,” Gilbert said.

Norton also has suggestions for cyber safety:

1. Never buy from unrecognized retailers. Check details of unfamiliar stores, ratings and reviews of resellers and be wary when you see too many five-star reviews.
2. Check that websites start with https to help ensure they are secure. Ensure that the payment also starts with https so not just the main page is secure.
3. Avoid the allure of deals and offers that seem too good to be true, like must-have gifts at extremely low prices. Remember that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
4. Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN), such as Norton Secure VPN, to help protect your online privacy and keep personal and financial information secure when shopping or using apps on public Wi-Fi.
5. Create strong, unique passwords for shopping sites, email accounts and financial apps. Keep track of passwords by using a password manager, such as Norton Password Manager.
6. Install device protection software, such as Norton 360 Deluxe, to help protect and alert you of potential scams.

For those charity calls the FBI suggests that individuals verify the valid taxpayer identification number by calling the charity directly, not the number that the caller has provided, but find the charity’s information independently and visit the website of the charity.