AARP: Watch Out For Fraud This Time Of Year

An unfortunate part of the holiday season is fraud.  The AARP’s Sean Voskuhl said 82% of American consumers have experienced some type of fraud, and of that, over a third have experienced fraud when trying to buy a product on-line ad.  He added one in four have had a delivered package stolen from their front door, while 35% said they received a donation request in the past year that seemed fake or fraudulent.

Voskuhl added it doesn’t stop there.

“More than half of consumers received a notification on their phones from someone saying they are from the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx, or UPS about a shipment issue, and it turned out to be fraudulent," Voskuhl noted.  "Plus, more than one in four people have given or received a gift card with no balance.”

Voskuhl added it also can apply to holiday travel, noting 12% of travelers experienced fraud when booking a trip.  AARP recently conducted a holiday shopping and scams survey of consumers.

“Seven in ten U.S. consumers ages 18 and older failed a ten-question safe-shopping quiz, indicating that they may be susceptible to scammers’ tactics," Voskuhl said.  "Plus, 64% of consumers incorrectly thing or aren’t sure that online retailers will request their login information to provide customer support.” 

Learn more about scams and how to protect yourself, or a family member this holiday season, by visiting the AARP's Website.

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