Holiday Scams, Fraud and Poaching - Jim Flaherty

MID-WEST FARM REPORT - MADISON

Jim Flaherty from AARP Wisconsin joins Pam Jahnke to discuss a few holiday scams and what people can do to protect themselves. First let’s start with Package Delivery Scams. Flaherty says these scams start with a text claiming your package is on hold because of an issue. They claim to be from the Postal Service, UPS or FedEx, and they include a link to a website. Once there you’ll be asked to verify personal information or pay a postage or delivery fee. To avoid these scams never click on links or call phone numbers from random text messages. If you think there is an issue with a package you’ve ordered, go directly to the retailer’s website and check for yourself.

This is also the time of year when many organizations ask for end of the year pledges and donations. But there are also Fake Charity Scams. Flaherty says people should be confident in where their money's going.

Research the charity on sites such as give.org, CharityNavigator.org or CharityWatch.org to make sure it’s legit and find out what percentage of their donations are actually used to serve their mission.

More and more people are doing their holiday shopping online, but we’ve all seen the videos on the news of bold criminals stealing packages right off the front doorsteps of people’s homes – often during broad daylight. We call these porch pirates.

Flaherty notes that you can try and avoid porch pirates by seeing if your packages can be held by the shipper in a nearby location, placed in a secure location on your property, or delivered to a UPS or Amazon drop box.

Consumers should also be aware of gift card scams as well as fake threats from utility companies. Flaherty says all of those questions and concerns can be answered at aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork

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