Holiday Shopping is Riddled with Fraud

A new 2023 AARP Fraud Watch Network^TM report is highlighting the ways criminals target consumers during holiday seasons. 80% of U.S. consumers say they have experienced some form of fraud this year. Separately, more consumers plan on shopping online compared to the last two years.

These holiday shopping scams have increased from last year’s report, and range from people receiving fake notifications about shipments, to online ad scams.

The findings from AARP's annual survey show fraud is on the rise and that knowledge about how to stay safe from fraud is dropping. This year.

Use of peer-to-peer payment services has increased. A large majority of respondents shared they do business via P2P apps – such as sending money to businesses they have no previous relationship with. These apps provide little protection to affected consumers.

Gift cards continue to be popular gift options, with 66% of those surveyed planning to purchase them this holiday season. However, criminals have ways of manipulating cards with balances and draining them. 27% of consumers have experienced either giving or receiving a gift card with no value on it.

In a 10-question fraud knowledge quiz that was again part of this year’s AARP survey, most respondents failed with only 28% of respondents able to answer 7 or more questions correctly. There is a need to educate consumers that:

• Retailers will never request your login information to provide customer support.
• Credit cards offer the most consumer protections of any payment method.
• Regularly accepting operating system upgrade prompts on your device is important.
• It’s risky to do a web search for a company’s customer support network because criminals buy ads impersonating those companies.
• Check billing and credit card statements for customer service, use the number on the back of your credit cards, or go directly to the company by typing in their web address, like www.aarp.org.

To read the full report and learn more visit: www.aarp.org/holidayscams2023.

AARP Fraud Watch Network^TM is a free resource that equips consumers with up-to-date knowledge to spot and avoid scams, and connects those targeted by scams with our fraud helpline. Anyone can call the helpline at 877-908-3360.

AARP Fraud Watch Network^TM also offers free, facilitated peer discussion groups that seek to provide emotional support for those experiencing fraud.