Presentation by state’s Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation covered various topics, scenarios

By Theresa Knapp

UPTON – The Commonwealth’s Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation offered a presentation called “Holiday Scams” at the beginning of the holiday season that offered advice to be followed all year long. 

The event took place at the Upton Community Center with the OCABR representative Robin Putnam who discussed seasonal fraud, return policies, defective merchandise, warranties, lost or stolen packages (“porch pirates”), gift certificates, passwords, credit card versus debit cards, identity theft prevention, the “grandparent scam,” gift cards used as bill payment or bribes, spoofed phone numbers, and more. 

Putnam said scamming is a multi-billion dollar business that is here to stay. “It’s a $52-$55 billion industry that will never ever go away so I think it’s important to talk about different red flags that you might see or hear because the more you talk about things that you’re hearing, the less likely you’re going to fall for something and you might stop a friend for falling for something.” 

The OCABR shared these statistics: 

•  41% of all scams globally were related to online purchases in 2023

•  82.6% of people reported losing money to online shopping scams in 2023

•  Consumers lost more than $10 billion to fraud in 2023 (an increase of 14% from 2022) 

•  Social media scams increased by 58% in 2023 with losses exceeding $500 million

“The demographic that most people think is getting hit is the seniors, it’s really not, it’s the 18 to 59 year olds,” Putnam said to the audience. “They click on links before thinking about it, they don’t verify businesses before they do some online shopping. It’s your generation quite honestly that does the sleuthing and asks the questions and you’re not falling for as many things.” 

Putnam offered ways to identify scams such as unsolicited phone calls, unwanted emails, or suspicious mailings, and warned consumers not to engage. 

She also told consumers to be aware of anyone who asks them to verify or update account information or their social security number, or make a payment via mail or prepaid card to claim a prize, avoid punishment, pay taxes, or pay for shipping fees. 

She highlighted the “grandparent scam” wherein someone calls pretending to be their grandchild (often crying in a way that makes it hard to determine if the caller is the real grandchild), saying they need money (often a large sum) for an emergency situation. The scammer often says to keep the call a secret. 

One of the many ways scammers choose victims is through social engineering. Scammers gather bits of information on the internet, or through nefarious means, to put together known information that can be confirmed by the consumer, then, at the end, once the consumer feels comfortable, the scammer will ask for confirmation of Medicaid information, credit card information, social security number, etc. 

Putnam said this is currently happening in Central and Western Massachusetts. She said never to give your information to a caller, but advised people to hang up and call the business directly and ask if they need any information.  

She also warned against trusting Caller ID, which can often be spoofed with software (so it shows a legitimate business name when it is really a scammer), and advised consumers to double-check any incoming email addresses from supposed banks, prizes, etc. Again, if something does not seem quite right, consumers should call the business directly. 

“If the offer is too good to be true, it is,” said Putnam.  

Consumers were advised to verify all third-party sellers and to use a secure form of payment. Putnam suggested using a credit card instead of a debit card so that, if there is fraud, a consumer’s bank account is not emptied. She also said everyone should be changing their passwords often. 

“You really should be changing and updating your password every four to five months,” said Putnam. “They need to be long, they have to have different characters, uppercase, lowercase, numbers – you need to make it crazy.” 

If consumers think they have been scammed, they should file a police report and share the report with their financial institutions, and request a credit freeze from all three credit agencies (TransUnion, Experian, Equifax);  Putnam said the OCABR is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and they offer 13 different languages. She said a real person will answer the call but if they are busy – they have received 6,000 calls in the last three months – they will call back as soon as possible. 

To watch the full presentation, visit “Holiday Scams” on Upton Community Television or https://binged.it/4fwShTW.a