Video Transcript

Supervisory Special Agent Casey Harrington: It’s obviously a big time of year for retailers, for consumers, but also a big time of year for the criminals.

Every year, thousands of people become victims of holiday scams.

Special Agent Harrington: Regardless of whether it is an email, a text message, or a website, they’re going to use every possible way to try to get your information and get you to click on something you necessarily wouldn’t want to.

According to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center's 2020 report, non-payment or non-delivery scams cost people more than $265 million. Credit card fraud accounted for $129 million in losses.

Special Agent Harrington: There’s a lot of criminals out there. It’s a very lucrative business.

This holiday season, don't be a victim.

Special Agent Harrington: We want to make sure when you’re purchasing an item online it’s somewhere that’s reputable and that you’re familiar with. Look for reviews, look for feedback from other people. Just because the ad’s on a legitimate platform or website, don’t believe that it’s not fraudulent. In the URL, usually you want to see it start with HTTPS – the “S” is the key for “secure.” We definitely encourage individuals to check credit card statements. They’re very sophisticated, they get better every year, and so we have to get better and the consumer has to get better at identifying the scam.

Report Internet crimes to IC3.gov.