The classic Christmas song, "The 12 Days of Christmas" is all about true love and giving.  The same can't be said about what the Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Southern Alberta is calling "The 12 Scams of Christmas."

If you're caught in one of them you're not going to love it at all as it will "give" you plenty of headaches and has the potential to drain your bank account.

Shawna-Kay Thomas is the External Communications Specialist with the BBB and she has some tips to avoid being caught in one of the scams.  She says the first scam to be on the lookout for is one that involves Look-Alike Websites.

Thomas explains, "Scammers at this time develop counterfeit websites for legitimate brands.  You get these notifications sometimes in your emails or by text message and you're asked to click on a link.  From there what they do is actually phish your personal information that you enter when you click on the link.  Also, we want to warn people to look for the https as well as the lock symbol whenever they're shopping online." 

Many charities get a boost from donors during December and many people want to support them.  Thomas says giving is important but often scammers take advantage of the spirit of giving through the Phony Charities scam.

"You want to be doing your research on the charity that you're giving to and be sure that it's the exact name of the charity that you want.  Sometimes scammers mimic credible charities, there may be a misspelling in the name, there may be the name in reverse or just a couple of words changed.  Also look at the description that is on the website of the charity."

People still enjoy giving and receiving Christmas cards although many have abandoned the traditional paper cards for the electronic type.  Thomas says to be wary when you get a card that you didn't expect.

"You get a link from someone and it says you have to click in order to see who it's coming from.  We tell people all the time not to click on links if you don't know who exactly it's coming from.  If the name isn't clear and you don't know the individual, then you just want to hit delete because again, this is a way for scammers to phish for your information.  If you see the .exe which indicates it's a virus and it can be downloaded into your computer."

Thomas says you should always keep a close eye on your financial statements and quickly dispute any unrecognizable charges.  If you come across any scam you should report it to BBB Scam Tracker and file a complaint with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

Here's a full list of the 12 Scams of Christmas:

  • Look-Alike Websites 
  • Social Media Gift Exchanges 
  • Grandparent Scams 
  • Temporary Holiday Jobs 
  • Free Gift Cards 
  • E-Cards 
  • Fake Shipping Notifications 
  • Phony Charities 
  • Letters From Santa 
  • Unusual Forms of Payments 
  • Travel Scams 
  • Puppy Scams 

To find out more about these scams and ways to avoid them go to bbb.org and click on News. 

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