Itβs an oldie, but a baddie.
Supply-chain issues and shortages of certain electronics, toys and other products, the holiday season and letting off steam after a second year of a global pandemic have all created a perfect storm for would-be thieves.
The Federal Trade Commission said there were 57,769 online shopping fraud reports from Jan. 1 to Oct. 18, followed by travel scams (46,458), diet scams (15,713), government imposters (12,491) and business imposters (8,794).
And the No. 1 way of contacting would-be victims? Believe it or not, itβs old-fashioned email. Those pesky phishing links were the point of contact resulting in 19,107 fraud reports over that same period.
βBlack Friday is fertile ground for scams.β
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