{"id":97982,"date":"2025-12-05T07:51:39","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T12:51:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=97982"},"modified":"2025-12-03T07:53:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T12:53:56","slug":"fraud-watch-credit-repair-scams-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-3-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=97982","title":{"rendered":"Fraud Watch- Common Holiday Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-medium is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mainestategrange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2025-Communications-Logo.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"256\" height=\"300\" data-attachment-id=\"96331\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?attachment_id=96331\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mainestategrange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2025-Communications-Logo.jpg?fit=568%2C666&amp;ssl=1&amp;ver=1778837567\" data-orig-size=\"568,666\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"2025 Communications Logo\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mainestategrange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2025-Communications-Logo.jpg?fit=568%2C666&amp;ssl=1&amp;ver=1778837567\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mainestategrange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2025-Communications-Logo.jpg?resize=256%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"MSG Communications Resources Logo\" class=\"wp-image-96331\" style=\"width:300px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mainestategrange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2025-Communications-Logo.jpg?resize=256%2C300&amp;ssl=1 256w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mainestategrange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2025-Communications-Logo.jpg?w=568&amp;ssl=1 568w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 256px) 85vw, 256px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Reprinted with permission from AARP&#8217;s Fraud Watch Network.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The holiday season usually means fun with friends and family, goodwill and giving. Unfortunately, it&#8217;s also a prime time for cybercriminals to perpetrate fraud. Here are some common holiday scams to look out for this holiday season:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Online shopping scams. <\/strong>Criminals create professional-looking websites and ads promoting popular items at steep discounts, but what you receive may be different than advertised\u2014if you receive anything. Be cautious of unusually low prices and avoid clicking on ads in emails, texts, or social media. For safer shopping, go directly to a trusted retailer\u2019s website or app and pay with a credit card for stronger protections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Delivery scams<\/strong>. As holiday packages crisscross the country, scammers send out phishing emails and texts that appear to be from UPS, FedEx, or the U.S. Postal Service, notifying recipients about incoming or missed deliveries. Links lead to fake sign-in pages that request personal information, or to sites that may be infected with malware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Gift card scams<\/strong>. Criminals steal gift cards in bulk from store racks, collect the information from the card, and return them to the&nbsp; rack for unsuspecting buyers. When the gift card is bought, criminals immediately drain the money. It is safer to buy cards that are kept behind the counter, or directly from the retailer\u2019s site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-fe48e5de wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-dark-gray-color has-yellow-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-small-font-size has-custom-font-size wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aarp.org\/money\/scams-fraud\/holiday\/\" style=\"border-radius:50px\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">More Topic Resources<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Report scams to local law enforcement. For help from AARP, call 1-877-908-3360 or visit the AARP Fraud Watch Network at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aarp.org\/fraudwatchnetwork\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">aarp.org\/fraudwatchnetwork<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-separator uagb-block-6c6a120f\"><div class=\"uagb-separator-spacing-wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-uagb-separator__inner\" style=\"--my-background-image:\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-info-box uagb-block-8433a68b uagb-infobox__content-wrap  uagb-infobox-icon-above-title uagb-infobox-image-valign-top\"><div class=\"uagb-ifb-content\"><div class=\"uagb-ifb-title-wrap\"><h2 class=\"uagb-ifb-title\"> AARP Fraud Watch Network<\/h2><\/div><p class=\"uagb-ifb-desc\">Need a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aarp.org\/forms\/me-speakers-bureau-request-form.html?testing=fdsafdsa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">scam prevention speaker<\/a> for your group? Click the link to fill out the AARP online form or email <a href=\"mailto:me@aarp.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">me@aarp.org<\/a>.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The holiday season usually means fun with friends and family, goodwill and giving. Unfortunately, it&#8217;s also a prime time for cybercriminals to perpetrate fraud. Here are some common holiday scams to look out for this holiday season: Online shopping scams. Criminals create professional-looking websites and ads promoting popular items at steep discounts, but what you &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=97982\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Fraud Watch- Common Holiday Scams&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2122,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,218],"tags":[508,506,272,507],"post_folder":[509],"class_list":["post-97982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-service","category-resources-for-granges-and-grangers","tag-aarp-fraud-watch","tag-fraud-alert","tag-grange-communication","tag-scam-alert"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"post-thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Walter Boomsma","author_link":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?author=2122"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The holiday season usually means fun with friends and family, goodwill and giving. Unfortunately, it&#8217;s also a prime time for cybercriminals to perpetrate fraud. Here are some common holiday scams to look out for this holiday season: Online shopping scams. Criminals create professional-looking websites and ads promoting popular items at steep discounts, but what you&hellip;","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1arC1-pum","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97982"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97983,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97982\/revisions\/97983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97982"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_folder&post=97982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}