Scammers are likely to use ‘pick up in store’ hustle

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. Really, you might even have 33 days, if you plan to shop on Thanksgiving, too.

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

“Fraudsters are in business to make money,” said Glen Goldstein, senior vice president of technology, retail and e-commerce markets at TransUnion.

So crooks will be tapping into every trick and tool 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 the cart with quick gift ideas, such as 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.

Retailers, though, find themselves walking a fine line between setting up online security measures that will stop crooks in their tracks but won’t leave consumers so frustrated that they decide to shop somewhere else.

One hot fraud is likely to be built around the popular “buy online, pick up in-store” model.

About half of consumers expect to buy online and pick up in the store this holiday season, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.

Shoppers love being able to hunt for the best prices and coupons online, order their gifts and then make a quick trip to the store to pick them up to save time and money on any possible shipping charges. But crooks love the idea of using stolen credit card or debt card information to buy something online and then easily pick it up at the store so they can sell those goods for cash somewhere else.

As supermarkets promote ordering online with pick up at the store, the fraudsters are figuring out ways to crack into that new system, too, Goldstein said.

Fraudsters might use their mobile phones while in the store or sitting in the parking lot. Once they order, they may quickly walk into the store or to the area created for online pick up to get their items. They move fast enough to make sure there is not enough time for the online system to fully connect and spot fraudulent activity.

The store, perhaps unwilling to offend a customer, promptly fills that order before the online transaction has been validated. The crook might be asked to provide a driver’s license. But that’s not a hurdle.

“Anybody who has ever been a college student knows that a driver’s license can be easily faked,” Goldstein said.

One reason ID thieves are turning to the buy-online platform is that it’s far harder to create a fake credit card to use at the register using stolen information, thanks to the use of chip-enabled debit and credit cards, according to Erika Dietrich, global director for payments risk for ACI Worldwide, a global provider of real-time electronic payment and banking solutions.

In the past, a crook might be able to get credit card numbers, including a security code, to then create a phony plastic card. Now, crooks now are more likely to use that stolen ID information to place orders online.

By shopping earlier in the season, fraudsters can keep an eye on items that are limited in inventory and later can easily be sold at a premium to desperate shoppers via Craigslist or eBay.