Scammers often try to capitalize on the holidays, here’s what to look for.
“You get an email from Amazon saying that you need to reset your password, the problem being that it is not from Amazon,” said John O’Hare with the Better Business Burea. “The email looks like it is and what they are trying to do is take control of your account.”
O’Hare added that the email could be coming from Amazon or Netflix these days.
“There’s also the same type of email coming from Netflix asking people to update their information,” said O’Hare.” This is thieves out there trying to steal your identity, trying to buy things from Amazon, all that they have to do is if they have your account, they just change the shipping address, and what they normally do is they change it to a P.O. box or a UPS station. They go pick those items up and you’ve paid for them.”
He said that people should double check before they click on any link.
“We are telling people that if you do get an email like that, you should always go to the website directly and do not click on any links,” said O’Hare. “However, if you’ve clicked on it by mistake, go to your accounts and reset your own password through there so that it will stop them from getting into your account.”
He added that making a habit of checking on accounts this time of year could save someone from identity theft.
“This is the time of year when people are doing a lot of shopping and maybe in the household you may not know what your spouse is shopping for so you just see charges show up, and you really need to go through your accounts with a fine tooth comb and look definitely look for accounts that have been opened that you are not aware of,” said O’Hare.
