How to Avoid Consumer Scams

Scammers really tend to be ahead of the curve on a lot of things. Whenever an increase in activity in a relevant industry arises, they try to take advantage of it amidst the height of its popularity. Perpetrators flock to whatever has the most opportunities. So much so that they’ve now started to use Artificial Intelligence as a tool against the unsuspecting. There are AI robo callers, mass AI spam messages, the list goes on and on. It’s become difficult to stay ahead of all the scams since whenever scammers get shut down the first thing they look to do is to find a new way to game the system. It can be difficult to manage but if you look for the right cues you can protect yourself with the knowledge at hand.

Beware of Overburdened Systems

If it’s package season like during the holidays for example, scammers will flock to that industry because there is more opportunity and more chaos in that sector. These scams develop out of opportunism and scammers taking advantage of a system that is heavily overburdened. This is part of the reason why there are so many package delivery scam requests in the market today. It’s important consumers be mindful of all potential unknown messages and unknown calls and make sure they know who they’re corresponding with. This is why it always pays to be mindful of what’s going on around us and make sure we aren’t getting taken advantage of.

Avoid Link Clicking

Whatever you do, avoid clicking on unnecessary links at all costs. Always hover over the link before you press to see where it actually leads. If you ordered something from Amazon make sure that the link you received is from Amazon. This is a great way for you to double check any suspicious text messages you receive. Due to shortened text messages, it has also become more difficult to verify who the original sender of a given text message is. Since there are so many shortened text message numbers (they are usually only 5-6 digits), this has created more ambiguity in the market and made consumers more likely to get scammed. However, since text messages are such a regulated industry this appears to

Use a Credit Card

When you use a credit card instead of a debit card you are protecting yourself from potential losses. This is one of the main benefits of credit cards. They act as a buffer against direct access to your hard-earned money, unlike a debit card. This might seem counterintuitive but that payment buffer can do a tremendous amount of good in the face of preventing scammers from getting your hard-earned money. Credit card companies will also allow you to dispute any fraudulent charges.

Check Domains and Make Sure You Are Using an HTTPS Server

There are small cues that savvy consumers can pick up on to gather whether a website is trustworthy or not. You should always be on the lookout for weird domain endings that might be atypical from what you’re used to seeing. You should also be on the lookout to make sure you are on an https website and that the site you’re on has all valid SSL and TLS security certificates.

What to Look Out for with Shipping

Most updates in regards to shipping happen via email! Although, the shipper will sometimes come in the form of a text message, you will also get an email with this information. The safest best is to stick with email and try and look where the email was sent from (if it’s from Amazon, make sure the email is from noreply@amazon, etc.) and track the package directly from the company order status email. You can click on the tracking link within the email and always approve delivery without signing via that link (the one you received from the company you purchased the products from).

How Consumers Can Safe Guard Themselves

Sometimes to the safest thing to do is not pickup unknown calls and family of elderly should advise them to do as much if they feel this to be an area of concern for their loved ones. Otherwise the best way for consumers to typically be on the safe guard against this type of thing is by doing a simple google search for a particular topic within a subreddit or checking into trending topics on the BBB/FTC website. If you have a question about a text you’ve received, someone on reddit or google has most likely checked into it and experienced the exact same thing before. Don’t be afraid to ask the internet, it’s a great resource and helping you protect yourself from consumer scams.