Avoid The Grinch This Holiday – Shop Wisely!

The holiday shopping is well underway.  You may have noticed your social feeds and inbox getting flooded with ads offering the “best deals.”  But buyer beware, if it looks too good to be true, it likely is.  At the bank, we hear how customers are being scammed through false ads on social media, email and texts.

Here are a few easy steps you can take to protect yourself:

• If an ad pops up on your social feed or you get an email or text – don’t click on the link!  Instead, type their web address into your browser.
• Always shop with retailers you trust either online or on their app.
• Look for bad grammar in the ad – that’s a red flag the ad is fake.
• Use secure and traceable transactions. Avoid paying by wire transfer, prepaid money card, gift card, or other non-traditional payment methods.
• If a deal seems too good to be true, it’s likely a scam!  This time of year especially, scammers like to hack into social media accounts and send fake offers to the victim’s family and friends.

We all want to get a great deal, it’s in our nature. Just don’t click before you do a little research.