Tag: christmas
The Most Common Christmas Scams
It’s Nearly Christmas.
The festive season is a busy time of year for scammers of all kinds as people buy presents, food for visitors, decorations, more food and drink than usual and much more.
Pre and post Christmas discount sales are likely to push the market into overdrive even with Coronavirus still around.
Fake Online Shops
Scammers set up fake website shops offering whatever products are most popular. They usually copy the sales text and pictures from genuine websites to make their site look real, but if you buy then you’re unlikely to get anything and you will lose the money. Often they will also sell your credit card details to other scammers.
Always make sure you‘re on a genuine company website before buying anything.
E-cards
Christmas brings lots of e-cards – likely to be even more than usual in Coronavirus days. Fake notifications for e-cards are a common means by which scammers trick you into clicking on a link that can lead to malware being installed on your computer without your knowledge.
Even if the card appears to come from a reputable organisation such as Hallmark – be very careful.
To be sure, if a card is genuine,. You need to go to the apparent sender’s website e.g. hallmark.com and see if there is a card waiting for you.
If there’s no card waiting for you, the email you got was sent by a scammer.
Phishing Scams
These are very common and take many forms – the essential part of a phishing scam is to get you to provide your login and password for some reason and once the scammer has that information they can take control of that account and any others where you use the same login and password.
Unsolicited emails that tell you to click a link are always dodgy – so be careful.
If the message tells you there is a problem of some kind e.g. your account has been compromised or that you have won a prize then contact the relevant organisation directly – not via information in the message.
Never click a link in an unsolicited message until you are sure it is safe.
Charity Scams.
Many charities are struggling this year as lock downs have reduced their fund raising dramatically and they need all of the help they can get. However, scammers continue to invent fake charities or use the names of genuine charities and keep the money for themselves.
They may claim celebrity endorsement or official recognition or anything to make themselves believable.
If you want to donate to charity then donate in person or go to the correct website directly – do not click on links in messages.
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Are Christmas Hampers Worth It?
Emails are turning up offering Christmas Hampers and of course TV adverts and you see them in the supermarkets and department stores.
There has been a lot of publicity in recent years about how the contents of a typical store hamper can be bought much cheaper separately so it’s more difficult than previously for the big supermarkets in particular to get away with exorbitant prices.
Money Supermarket looked at a Waitrose Cracker Hamper and found
– Italia Collezione Prosecco Brut 750ml (Waitrose.com £11.99)
– Buiteman Parmigiano Reggiano Biscuits 75g (Amazon.co.uk £11.51)
– Linden Lady Handmade Luxury Chocolates x 15 (Waitrose.com £6.99)
– Linden Lady Handmade Toasted Coconut Marshmallows 125g (Yourhamper.com £3.49)
– Maxwell & Franks Christmas Pudding with Cider 454g (Yourhamper.com £3.74)
– The Original Cake Company Round Top Iced Fruit Cake
– 6 Waitrose All Butter Mince Pies (Waitrose.com £2.50)
Total cost bought separately £59.09 or £100 as a Waitrose hamper. That was in 2013 and things have improved since then.
Bargain supermarket Aldi got into hampers a few years ago and theirs sell from £29.99 to £99.99.
Bargain supermarket Lidl don’t ye do Christmas hampers.
The makers of hampers point out that you also get the hamper and the benefit of someone having chosen the items and packed them for you. However, the actual hamper baskets are quite cheap on Amazon so you can make your own.
The days of huge sales of hampers at Christmas seems to have gone, especially since the largest of the monthly savings hamper clubs Farepak went bust 4 years ago.
Are Hampers worth the money?
If you’re buying as a gift for someone then maybe it makes sense to pay significantly more than the value of the contents. But if you’re buying for your family – then It depends on
how much you like the actual hamper box it comes in and how much you like someone picking the items on your behalf.
Basically it’s usually much cheaper to buy the items separately and if you want a hamper basket to put them in then buy one on Amazon or eBay and fill it yourself.
Don’t be taken in by the emails – check the cost of the contents for yourself.
Aldi £30 hamper contains £27 worth of goods plus the gift box.
Aldi £100 hamper contains £83 worth of contents plus the hamper basket
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The Letter to Santa Scam
Unfortunately the scamming business doesn’t stop just because it’s Christmas and one common festive scam is about letters to Santa.
Unsolicited emails offer to sell you a “Handwritten letter from Santa to Your Child,” usually with a price of $19.99.
The link takes you to a website offering such a service but if you input your card details – they will use your card till your account has been emptied or your credit reached its maximum. Then they sell your card details to other scammers to try using them with other accounts you may have and you are likely to be added to ‘suckers’ lists circulated with other scammers.
All this from inputting your details trying to get letters from Santa.
There are much easier options – such as write the letters yourself. It’s very easy with a PC to make Christmassy letters or even hand write them. Your small child is unlikely to know they are not from the real Santa.
Never ever click on links on emails. If you want to use an Internet service then make sure you find a reputable one and check for user reviews.
If you are going to pay online for something, then make sure the connection is secure i.e. the Internet address should start with https: and there should be an icon of a locked padlock next to the https:
Any emails promising letters to Santa are almost certainly scams.
The Postal Service in America allows you to get a response from Santa when you follow these instructions:-
- Address the request letters to Santa Claus, North Pole.
- Write your personalized response to your child and sign it ‘From Santa’.
- Insert both letters into an envelope and address it to your child.
- The return address should be Santa Claus, North Pole.
- Make sure you use a First-Class stamp.
- Put everything in a large envelopes with postage and mail it to: North Pole Postmark Postmaster
In the UK, send a stamped self-addressed envelope to Santa/Father Christmas at Santa’s Grotto, Reindeerland, XM4 5HQ
Good luck.
If you have any experiences with scammers, spammers or time-waster do let me know, by email.
Christmas Scams
- Fake Websites – There is a big increase in fake special offers, email alerts etc in the lead up to Christmas as scammers try desperately to attract you to their websites. Most of these fake sites are copies of well known and trusted sites such as Marks and Spencers, Amazon, Bentalls etc. The sites are either phishing sites designed to get your login information or sell poor quality copies of well known products. Be careful visiting any retail websites that you haven’t used previously.
- Social Media Gift Exchange – This is a fairly new scam whereby exchanging gifts or purchasing and selling may seem a good plan but scammers turn these into schemes where they make money and everyone else loses.
- Grandparent Scams – Scammers target pensioners, pretending to be a grandchild that has been injured in an accident and needs financial help immediately. They hope the emotional impact of a hurt child may lead people to react and send help without thinking though what’s going on or verifying the situation first.
- E-Cards – More people than ever are sending e-Cards at Christmas and scammers create fake websites and advertise them on social media to attract punters. But instead of an e-card they take your login details and payment details and make money from you. Be careful using a new e-Card website.
Be careful more than ever online at Christmas.
If you have any experiences with scammers, spammers or time-waster do let me know, by email.
Are Christmas Hampers A Good Deal?
It’s only September but emails are turning up offering Christmas Hampers.
There has been a lot of publicity in recent years about how the contents of a typical store hamper can be bought much cheaper separately so it’s more difficult than previously for the big supermarkets in particular to get away with exorbitant prices.
Money Supermarket looked at a Waitrose Cracker Hamper and found
– Italia Collezione Prosecco Brut 750ml (Waitrose.com £11.99)
– The Whale Caller Sauvignon Blanc/Colombard 75cl (Waitrose.com £5.49)
– The Whale Caller Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon 75cl (Waitrose.com £5.49)
– Atkins & Potts Milk Chocolate Dipper 220g (Atkins and Potts £2.95)
– Buiteman Parmigiano Reggiano Biscuits 75g (Amazon.co.uk £11.51)
– Linden Lady Handmade Luxury Chocolates x 15 (Waitrose.com £6.99)
– Linden Lady Handmade Toasted Coconut Marshmallows 125g (Yourhamper.com £3.49)
– Maxwell & Franks Christmas Pudding with Cider 454g (Yourhamper.com £3.74)
– Olives Et Al Chipotle Smoky Chilli Nuts 150g (Olives Et Al £4.00)
– The Original Cake Company Round Top Iced Fruit Cake (Original Cake Company Iced luxury Christmas slab £4.65).
– 6 Waitrose All Butter Mince Pies (Waitrose.com £2.50)
Total cost bought separately £59.09 or £100 as a Waitrose hamper. That was in 2013 and things have improved since then.
The makers of hampers point out that you also get the hamper and the benefit of someone having chosen the items and packed them for you. However, the actual hampers are quite cheap on Amazon so you can get your own.
The days of huge sales of hampers at Christmas seems to have gone, especially since the largest of the monthly savings hamper clubs Farepak went bust 4 years ago.
Are Hampers worth the money?
It depends on how much you like the actual hamper box it comes in and how much you like someone picking the items on your behalf.
Basically it’s usually much cheaper to buy the items separately and if you want a hamper then buy a hamper on Amazon or EBay and fil it yourself.
Don’t be taken in by the emails – check the cost of the contents for yourself.
Do leave a comment on this post – click on the post title then scroll down to leave your comment