ILLINOIS (WCIA) -- The Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS) is offering tips on how to avoid scams this holiday season.
To start, there's a lot of free apps that claim to offer special deals that are too good to be true. Scammers often use this tactic to make victims download an app to think they're getting a great sale, but they end up getting their financial information and passwords stolen.
The scammers are even able to access a victim's phone to spread the scam to others. A good way to avoid this is to make sure every app you download is reliable.
Another way scammers strike fast during the holidays is through phishing websites. Like the apps, the websites offer big deals as online stores. Instead of a deal, a victim will get their financial information stolen and the scammers will have access to their accounts.
Before clicking a link, make sure it is legit. Only input your credit card information if you can guarantee you are on a trusted online store.
Outside of posing as legit businesses, scammers also carry out their tactics through electronic greeting cards. Once a victim tries to obtain one of these, a scammer will use the card and embed malware on a user's computer.
If you received one of these cards in your email or over text and it seems fishy, there's a good change you're right. Especially if one of these greeting cards comes from a stranger, don't open it and delete it right away. CMS urges people to look for misspellings as a key giveaway in scoping out a potential scam.
A very common one, especially around the holidays, is fake shipping updates. Scammers will send these out to people to steal their information and download malicious software on their devices. They will even use logos of legitimate companies to make these emails and texts more believable.
Never click links on emails you have to think twice about. CMS said, "you've probably received a legitimate shipping notification, so consider comparing the notifications first before clicking any links."
Staying alert when doing your holiday shopping can not only save one person, but it can save their friends from being scammed as well. Knowing these warning signs is a great help in a time of year when people are already spending a lot of money.
Additional information on how to look out for holiday scams can be found here.