Fraudsters gearing up for holidays

We’re looking at 32 days of endless shopping from Black Friday through Christmas Eve — the longest holiday spending spree possible given that Thanksgiving falls so early in November.

The bad news: The fraudsters have more time to rip us off as well. Oddly enough, much of the online fraud heats up right after Thanksgiving dinner, experts say, as con artists join consumers in trying to get a jump on those Black Friday deals.

Crooks will be tapping into every trick and tool that holiday shoppers use to save a little time and energy — ordering online and picking up in the store, using credit or debit cards (yours or someone else’s) and loading up the cart with quick gift ideas, such as popular electronics and gift cards.

They’re going to take advantage of a hectic season, distracted shoppers and the push to drive retail online.

More than 40 percent of holiday shoppers will make nearly all of their purchases online, according to a new survey on Holiday Shopping and the Impact of Fraud by TransUnion.

Fraud attempts are expected to hit 3.27 percent of transactions on Thanksgiving Day, according to ACI Worldwide’s 2018 Holiday Season Merchant Fraud Forecast.

That’s roughly double what’s seen on a more typical shopping day. Online crooks are expected to be aggressive from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday.