Scammers have new ways to pillage personal info this holiday season: 'Starting to get really crafty'

As the holiday shopping season kicks into high gear with Black Friday and Cyber Monday on the horizon, scammers are also hoping to cash in by hijacking online shoppers' personal information. And some of the tactics scammers are using this year are more sophisticated than usual.

Census records for the third quarter of 2023 show that Americans' e-commerce purchases surpassed $284 billion, and that figure has been steadily rising over the years even as retail purchases dropped off in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking to the Messenger, Cinthia Lavin — vice president of communications for the Better Business Bureau of Southeast Florida — said that in 2023, scammers are particularly seeking to "take advantage of people looking to shop for high ticket items."

"[T]hey’re starting to get really crafty," Lavin said.

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One notable way scammers hijack online shoppers' information is by buying ads on social media sites and targeting people who are shopping for more expensive purchases, like video game consoles. Those ads then link to dubious websites that often advertise too-good-to-be-true discounts, typically with text urging buyers that the deal expires soon and that they shouldn't hesitate to submit their credit card information.

"Anyone can take out an ad on social media," Lavin told the Messenger. "Always research the retailers before you go ahead and purchase."

Consumer protection advocates say there are always several tell-tale signs of a scam operation. One major red flag advocates warn of is if the seller has no online presence when buyers are researching. Other typical scam operations have a URL with an "http" prefix, rather than "https," which means the website is secure.

Other scammers have been known to send messages purportedly from prominent online retailers like Amazon, urging customers to log in with their username and password to verify their personal information. Fraud experts say this is typically not how retailers communicate with customers, and that customers suspecting a scam should go to the websites themselves rather than click any links sent to them.

READ MORE: How scammers use psychology to create some of the most convincing internet cons