Did you get scammed this Christmas?

Friday 30 December 2016

Have you been shopping smart this Christmas or have you fallen victim to scams and fraud during the festive season?

The Jersey Fraud Prevention Forum (JFPF) have been trying to help you dodge them all with their ‘12 Frauds and Scams of Christmas’ campaign.

At the beginning of December they started posting advice on social media to help us all avoid the scammers.

On the first day of.....online shopping scams, they posted some helpful tips to keep us safe while shopping online with tips like checking our credit card company offers extra protection if we are buying big or expensive items.

On the second day of......bogus sites and counterfeit goods fraud, they warned that if a deal looks too good to be true, then it probably is and that the fraudsters behind bogus websites could be out to steal our personal details as well as our money.

On the third day of...auction website fraud, they warned how fraudsters are targeting websites and that if in doubt we should back out of the sale.

On the fourth day of....postal scams they helped make sure we could spot one, reminding us that being asked to call a premium-rate phone number to re-schedule a delivery could leave us with a huge bill.

On the fifth day of....apps scams, they posted tips to keep in mind when downloading apps - things like making sure our phones are updated with the latest anti-virus software.

On the sixth day of....shipping email scams, they warned that fraudsters are busy during the festive season, sending you realistic emails about your orders. Hopefully you won't have got caught out and checked the email of the sender and that there weren't any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors in the email - a warning sign that it might be a scam.

On the seventh day of.....travel and holiday scams they warned that those of us who want to get away from it all for Christmas could be targeted by fraudsters and urged us to check that our holidays are ABTA or ATOL protected and if in doubt, we should check with the Civil Aviation Authority. They also urged us to book holidays with well-known and reputable travel companies and pay for them using safe and secure methods of payment.

On the eighth day of.....social media give-away scams we were told how scammers are setting up fake give-aways to get us to click on links set up to steal personal information or corrupt our computers. They warned us to read all the rules and terms and conditions before entering competitions and advised against opening up or downloading any files from unknown senders or untrustworthy sources.

On the ninth day of.....Christmas charity scams they warned us to beware or fraudsters trying to target our donations online, over the phone, via apps or even coming to door to door. They said we should check whether the charity is a member of the Association of Jersey Charities or regulated by the Charity Commission.

On the tenth day of.....loan and investment scams they told how fraudsters are setting up sham loan websites offering low risk and high returns and that if you have concerns about your investment, you should contact the Channel island Ombudsman on 748610 or email here.

On the eleventh day of....gift card scams we learnt how criminals are targeting gift cards as a means of defrauding people and that if you are asked to provide personal financial information like PINS or passwords when buying them, we should walk away.

Finally on the twelfth day of....Christmas e-card scams they warned that scammers are sending e-cards packed with malware and viruses and not filled with festive cheer. They warned us not to open any anonymous cards or from someone we don't know.

Jersey Fraud Prevention Forum's Barry Faudemer said: “Criminals love Christmas; it’s the perfect time of year for you to give to them. They con their unsuspecting victims out of their hard earned cash, deceiving them to give up their personal information and bank details. Often busy shoppers don’t spare the time to think about protecting themselves and their finances and sadly fall into the fraudsters’ traps. Our campaign is designed to raise awareness locally so Islanders know how to better protect themselves so they don’t get conned this Christmas.”

They say with more people choosing to shop online for gifts, holidays and even food, fraudsters are using increasingly sophisticated methods to target shoppers including bogus websites selling counterfeit goods, fake adverts, virus infected e-Christmas cards and charity scams. They are even striking offline with package delivery scams, telephone and postal scams, and loan and investment scams.

The JFPF, which was set up in 2016 by a group of local organisations, provides alerts and advice on how to guard against fraudsters and scammers. 

Anyone who believes that they have been a victim of a scam should contact the States of Jersey Police on 612612 or email them here and you can find out more about the Forum here.