CLEVELAND — The FBI Cleveland Field Office issued its warning regarding holiday scams for this shopping season.

"With the holidays upon us and seasonal shopping in full gear, criminals are set to look for opportunities to take advantage of consumers," a press release states. "The FBI is encouraging shoppers to be vigilant for scams that are designed to steal their money and personal information."

The release notes the two most common of these scams include "non-delivery and non-payment crimes," with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) receiving more than 40,000 complaints of these scams through Oct. 15, totalling in losses of around $250 million, according to the release. The FBI defines these scams as "goods or services are shipped, and payment is never rendered (nonpayment) and payment is sent, and goods or services are never received, or are of lesser quality (non-delivery)."

“Criminals have adapted to the way we shop and continue to capitalize on our trust,” said Gregory Nelsen, FBI Cleveland Special Agent in Charge, in the release. “They are becoming more creative and offering payment forms such as cash, wire transfer, gift cards, and cryptocurrency. Sadly, this makes buying—and scamming, easy."

The release also warned of the following common scams:

  • Online shopping scams – Scammers offering through phishing e-mails or advertisements
  • Social media scams – Scammers use social media sites that appear to offer vouchers or gift cards, which often lead consumers to complete online surveys designed to steal personal information
  • Smartphone app scams – Scammers design mobile apps disguised as free games that steal personal information
  • Work-from-home scams – Scammers use websites and social media posts that offer working from home with convenience as the attention grabber, but there may be fraudulent intentions
  • Gift card scams – Victims receive a spoofed e-mail, call, or text asking them to purchase multiple gift cards for person or business reasons
  • Charity scams – Criminals set up false charities and profit from individuals who believe they are donating to legitimate organizations 

The release encourages those who believe they're victims of scams to contact their financial institutions alongside local police. They also encourage victims to submit a complaint through the IC3, and the FBI provides more about holiday scams here.

Related Stories