The holiday season is a time of joy, celebration, and often, increased spending. Unfortunately, it’s also a time when fraudsters become more active, taking advantage of the hustle and bustle to target unsuspecting consumers. As you shop for gifts, donate to charities, or book travel, staying vigilant about bank fraud is more important than ever. By being proactive and following a few key tips, you can protect your personal and financial information from scams and enjoy the holidays with peace of mind.

Avoid Social Media Shopping

We often find ourselves scrolling social media looking for updates from our friends, family, and people that we follow. Companies have found that placing ads between posts is an excellent way to take advantage of a captive audience. Scammers have made that same connection and create ads for fictious products or duplicate real ads to use for their own fraudulent purposes. It can be difficult to tell the difference between legitimate ads and fraudulent ones. The best thing to do is if you see something on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, any other social media platform that peaks your interest do not click the link or ad. This could be a scam. Instead open your internet browser and search for the company and product you saw. The search results will show you if they are a legitimate company or a scam. If the company is a scam or a less reputable company the search results will show people asking if it is a scam or it might obviously state that it is a scam. A legitimate company will have its own website that shows up in the search results. It is always better shop directly from a company’s website than it is to follow links and ads on social media. Make sure that you do your due diligence to make sure that you know who you are shopping with.

Donate Locally or to Well-Known Organizations

The holidays are a time of giving and donations increase substantially during the holiday season. This is an optimal time for scammers to take advantage of people. When considering where to make a monetary donation, consider looking close to home. There are many local organizations that can benefit from your donation. Plus when you look for local organizations to support, you get to see the impact of your donation right in your community. Looking for well-known organizations is also a good idea. Nationally known charities and organizations have websites that you can make your donation through. Please keep in mind that the same rules apply to donations as with social media shopping: always use your internet browser to find an organization’s website do not click links or ads.

You may also want to consider donating your time as well. Volunteering with a local charity, church, or other organization is a wonderful way to give back during the holiday season and have a significant impact on your community.

Have A Separate Shopping Account

When it comes to holiday shopping most people use a debit or credit card for most of their purchases. While debit and credit card processing are typically secure, we do still see fraud with these transactions. The best way to help mitigate fraudulent transactions on a debit or credit card is to have a separate account that specifically for shopping. What this does is limit the access a scammer may have to your money if your card number is compromised. This can look like a separate bank account that funds are placed into strictly for shopping. The balance is kept low and funds are added as needed to cover purchases. It can also look like a credit card that functions the same way in that it is solely used for shopping purchases. With a credit card is it important to pay the balance off each month to avoid paying interest on your purchases.

Check Your Account Often

Monitoring your bank or credit card account is vital to ensuring any fraudulent transactions are noticed quickly. Checking your transactions every day or every other day will allow you to catch a fraudulent transaction as soon as it happens which decreases the impact it has on your finances. It is important to note that although there is a greater chance of fraudulent transactions during the holidays as the sheer number of transactions is much higher than normal and scammers often times can get several transactions in before being caught, these fraudulent transactions can occur days, weeks, and even months after your card number is compromised.

If you find that you have been a victim of a scam or find fraudulent transactions on your account, contact your banker at your financial institution as soon as you can. If you have the option to turn your debit or credit card off online or in an app do that as well.

Bank fraud can turn a joyful holiday season into a stressful experience. By staying aware of common scams, monitoring your accounts, and using secure methods for transactions, you can greatly reduce your risk of falling victim. The holidays should be about spending time with loved ones, not dealing with financial stress. Implement these fraud-prevention tips, and keep your celebrations merry, safe, and secure. And of course, positive.

Have questions or interested in seeing all that Simmons Bank has to offer? Stop by and visit Kate and her entire team at 117 Raymond Hirsch Parkway or give them a call at (615) 285-2265.