Christmas shopping has begun. On a recent expedition, I decided to pick up some gift cards. At the register, the cashier attempted to activate the cards. One card would not activate, and the computer reading that said the card had already been used. While I was not affected, I do believe the store had been the victim of a scam.

A thriving scam involves the use of scanners to read the numbers from the gift cards sold in self-serve areas of stores. The person returns the cards to the store shelf and then monitors them to see when they are activated. Once activated, they will use the card numbers to spend the funds before the intended recipient. Whenever possible, purchase your card from behind the counter of a retailer or sealed packages. Retailers should move cards to a monitored area.

The FBI warns consumers to be wary of gift cards being sold on auction or classified advertisement websites where the price is significantly lower than any sales price in retail outlets. Also, gift card offers on social media sites claiming to be from major retailers.

Investigation Discovery (Discovery Channel) lists 10 holiday scams to watch for.

1. Lecherous holiday lenders
2. Holiday grab and dash
3. Holiday “help” wanted
4. Holiday hackers
5. Fake charity
6. Holiday "It" gift deceptions
7. Gift cards with nothing to give
8. Foreign lottery scams
9. Evil e-cards
10. Dangerous holiday downloads

McAfee list these online scams.

1. Social Media Scams
2. Malicious Mobile Apps
3. Travel Scams
4. Fake Brands
5. Apple Scams
6. Skype Message Scare
7. Bogus Gift Cards
8. Holiday SMiShing
9. Phony E-Tailers
10. Fake Charities
11. Dangerous E-cards
12. Phony Classifieds

There are plenty of criminals plotting ingenious ways to take our money. Be on guard and aware. If you haven’t heard of the company or charity, ignore it or do thorough research before getting involved. Don’t assume it’s legitimate because there are a lot of positive internet reviews.

If it’s too good to be true…

www.mazzellainvestigations.com