Ah, it’s been a great holiday season. A touch of snow, some cold weather, and we rode the holiday spirit from Thanksgiving through Hanukah to Christmas and then through New Year’s.  Everyone is happy and full of holiday cheer.

But you know what happens when you’re riding high in the saddle.  That’s right, when you feel all safe and happy is usually when you are in the most danger.   Be aware of the following post-holiday (and every day) scams:

Online Auctions

I know there are a lot of people who love eBay, but I’ve actually grown disgusted by the high degree of fraud on the auction site.  Anyone buying or selling on eBay really needs to be suspicious of everyone and everything.  Never ship to an unverified address even if someone tells you to because the purchase is a gift.  The scam here is that it is probably a stolen PayPal account and the felon wants you to ship to an unverified address so he rather than the account owner can receive the goods. 

This scam was actually attempted on me by eBay user “divingoodsodell” in late 2009.  The address he had registered with PayPal was different from the address he wanted me to ship to.  He explained this in an eBay message and stated that it was a gift for his daughter who lived at the other address.  It smacked of fraud to me so I decided to wait a day and see what he did.  Sure enough, the next morning he emailed me and told me that I was trying to cheat him by not shipping him the goods and that he would destroy my perfect eBay seller rating.  To me, this sort of frustration and attempted manipulation belies the true fraudulent intention in cases like this.  I emailed to inform him that I wanted no part of this transaction and he replied with a horrifyingly rude email using such foul language that a sailor would have been embarrassed to read it.  I immediately reported the transaction to PayPal as potential fraud and was pleasantly surprised to receive an answer within 15 minutes informing me that the transaction was terminated as fraud and the user account investigated.

Another scam that is going around is for the scammer to buy something, open the box, remove the item, and reseal the box (maybe even resealing it with heat wrap).  Then he returns the box but not the item in the hopes that you’ll issue a refund without opening the box and checking the item.  Never provide a refund before you’ve received and inspected the goods.

Follow eBay and PayPal’s advice on preventing fraud, and if something seems even slightly amiss report it as fraud immediately.

Fraudulent Gift Cards

In this scam, criminals go to physical stores that offer gift cards such as Starbuck’s, Banana Republic, and Macy’s.  They can either steal the cards outright and then sell them online or write down the numbers on them and wait for them to be purchased.  Once the criminal sees the card has been sold he knows it is about to be activated so in a few days he can go online and use the stolen numbers for purchases.  Many times gift card scams are carried out by temporary holiday employees.  Try to buy gift cards that come in promotional packaging thus concealing their numbers. .  If you get a gift card you don’t want and choose to trade it online, be alert because fraud is rampant on these sites.  The same goes for buying or selling a gift card on eBay.

Insurance Scams

Senior citizens should be alert for Medicare insurance fraud. Enrollment plans run through December 31 of each year, and after the holidays, we usually see an increase in phone calls or mailings targeting seniors who have an interest in Medicare policies and reforms, or supplemental policies.

Work from Home Scams

If you don’t work on Wall Street, then you may be strapped for cash after the holidays and looking to earn extra money by working online.  Use extreme caution! The majority of these “work” opportunities don’t deliver what they promise. Recent research (link to http://www.brighthub.com/computing/smb-security/articles/28781.aspx) has shown that only one in fifty-five of these offers are legitimate.  Search for reputable opportunities on sites like About.com (link to http://homebusiness.about.com) that offer compensation for your time. Search and verify their reputation though independent sites such as the Better Business Bureau (http://www.bbb.org) before you sign on the dotted line.  Read the fine print and never send them money as part of the hiring process.  That should be a dead giveaway that there’s some fraud going on.

As always, keep a look out for identity theft.  When stores are packed and checkout counters are bustling, it’s much harder to keep track of your credit card and know what exactly the salesperson is doing with it.  Make sure no one is standing near the register and listening to you as you provide the information required for a return such as credit card numbers, address, and phone number.

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