Con artists know the best time to pounce is when consumers are f illed with good cheer and they have let their guard down The 12 SCAMS of Christmas

It may be the season to be jolly… but not everyone you deal with this Christmas will be filled with goodwill. Alas, this is the time of year when Christmas criminals go into overdrive because they know our guard is down and there is extra money floating around. Gardaí and consumer watchdogs have warned us to watch out for fraudsters over the hectic Christmas shopping period. The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) has urged consumers to be extra cautious around text and online scams, which they say are on the rise and are targeting consumers this Christmas.

Here are the 12 cons of Christmas to watch out for:

FAKE PRIZES

AN unexpected prize would be a nice windfall coming up to Christmas. To exploit this, heartless criminals recently sent text messages advising people that they had won sums of money. All they had to do to collect was sent their personal details to a bunch of scammers, who can use this data. An Post recently warned about such messages purporting to be from the organisation.

PHONEY PLEAS

YOU may get a ‘help’ message apparently from someone in your friends list saying that they are stranded in a foreign country and need money to get home for Christmas. This is the time of year when people are less likely to question such pleas. Always check with your friend first. They are probably safe at home tucking into a mince pie.

FAKE FRIENDS

FRAUDSTERS bombard potential victims with friend requests at this time of year. These may be from contacts who have had their accounts hacked. Accepting these requests can give them access to your personal data which can be mined to impersonate you or hack your passwords.

FESTIVE PHISHING

PHISHING involves scammers trying to get your personal details by email, through a website, or social media. For example, you may get an email that claims to be from your bank, asking you to update your information or telling you there has been some unusual activity on your account. ‘Your bank will never ask you for your details in this way. Do not reply,’ say gardaí.

FAKE CHARITIES

THIS scam is a blight on every holiday season. As we open up our hearts and wallets, the bad guys hope to get in on the giving by sending spam emails advertising fake charities. They may try to fool you with a stolen logo and copycat text, or the charity may be entirely invented. If you have any doubt about a charity, you can check the Charities Regulator website.

AMA-CON

A SHOPPING website may look official – but the final bit of the address often gives the game away. In the past, cheats have used suffixes such as ‘co.com’ rather than the real ‘co.uk’. An ‘https’ prefix is much better in a web address as it is more secure than an