As the holiday shopping season approaches, one expert says there are some scam trends emerging that consumers need to watch out for.
Larry Zelvin, the head of the financial crimes unit at BMO Financial Group, said new technologies like artificial intelligence are making fraud harder to detect.
“The risks are ever-present every day all year long, but when it comes to this time of the year, ’tis the season to steal even more. Retailers are making more money this time of year than any other, so the fraudsters are all over it as well,” Zelvin said.
The list of newer scam methods includes AI-powered fraud, where scammers create a fake retailer website, along with phishing emails or deepfake videos to impersonate brands or influencers.
Fraudsters can also embed malicious links in QR codes. Other methods include counterfeit products on the TikTok Shop as well as digital pickpocketing, where criminals use contactless payment devices to skim data from phones.
Zelvin said QR code scams are “extremely widespread.”
“When you scan that QR code, there really is a URL or a website link, but people don’t look at it because it’s small,” he said.
He noted that 2.6 percent of online transactions in Canada between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday were flagged as fraudulent last year, a 51 percent annual increase.
Zelvin said there is a vast increase in people online during those peak buying periods, and fraudsters are “following the opportunity.”
He noted that older consumers are being disproportionately targeted.
However, there are steps you can take to mitigate the risk of falling victim.
This includes not clicking links in emails or texts and instead going directly to retailer websites. Verifying links to websites and looking for relevant HTTPS security indicators can help protect consumers.
He also advises using credit cards rather than debit cards or payment apps because they tend to have stronger fraud protections in place.
“Credit cards are a good way to pay just because they are not fast-moving, but instant payment systems, wires, gift cards, some of these payment apps, and cryptocurrency — that money is gone,” Zelvin said.
Other practices, like being skeptical of “limited time offers,” can help protect consumers, he said, along with researching unfamiliar sellers.
