Holiday Ripoffs For 2010
Holiday Ripoffs For 2010
With the holiday season almost upon us, stores both in your community and on the internet will be flooded with rabid hordes of shoppers, anxious to find the best bargain before anybody else does. The problem is that far too many people check their brains at the door on other matters, making it very easy for the more unscrupulous among us to take full advantage of it.
We're talking about rip offs here, and the holidays seem to be a popular time for the worst among us to make themselves known. There are any number of con games making the rounds at any moment, and knowing the warning signs to look for will be most beneficial in helping you to avoid them.
One of the most popular rip off games is the free vacation. You may receive an e-mail informing you that you just "won" a free vacation to a popular resort, but you must call an 800 number to claim it. Once you do, you are then hit up for various fees, sometimes totaling between $1500 - $2000, for "booking fees" or other nonsensical items. Legitimate contests will never ask you to pay a dime in order to receive your prize. Anybody who does is a rip off.
The crazy first cousin to the free vacation is the travel rip off. You have a specific destination in mind, and you find a site that promises exactly what you are looking for, with a rate that seems heaven sent. But here is the catch: they do not accept credit cards. They insist on payment through a bank or wire transfer. That is your red flag. It is a rip off. Reputable companies will always provide a means for you to pay with your credit card, since it is after all, the most convenient method.
One of the more recent trends in the rip off world comes directly from the e-mail box of your friends, or so it seems. You get an e-mail from them with a remarkable sob story, that they are vacationing in Barcelona or some other equally exotic (not to mention distant) destination, have had their wallet (or purse, or both) stolen, and need money wired to them to either pay their hotel bill or pay for their flight back home (or both). Typically these are the results of e-mail theft from social networking sites such as Facebook, another reason to set social networking settings on private.
Of course Black Friday always means the usual crush of mad shoppers out to find the hottest toy of the season. We've all seen the annual news reports of grown men fighting over toys in the Wal-Mart aisles. Many think they can avoid this problem by finding the toy online, but the rip off artists know this too, and you could find you money vanishing with nothing showing up on your doorstep.
The easiest solution is to shop locally through CraigsList and conduct all exchanges in person, with cash in hand. This is not always possible with eBay sellers, however, so do your research on the seller before placing a bid. That is what the seller feedback is for. It is always preferable to deal with someone who has a long history of positive feedback as a seller. If anything about the deal sounds dubious, don't do it.
Identity theft is a problem for law enforcement year round, but there is a noticeable increase in such cases around the holidays. With such a huge crush of frantic shoppers crowding the malls, it is open season for those who would seek to steal your wallet, purse, credit cards or debit numbers. You should always know where your wallet is, and make it as difficult to get to as possible. Be sure to cover your hands when using the ATM machine, because you never know who may be watching.
Among the more popular rip offs trending in the last couple of years is the fake charity. These are phone calls or e-mails soliciting donations for what may sound like a worthy cause. Your interest is peaked. They are appealing to the best in human nature, the desire to help out the less fortunate, and any good person is going to be predisposed to help. Unfortunately, the company soliciting you is a fraud. They will take your money and the people you think you are giving to will never see a dime, and you will be none the wiser. Worse yet, if you give them your credit card or bank information, you could be in for a very rude awakening.
To keep it safe, only contribute to those charities that you know and trust. If a call does sound interesting or appealing, do not make any donation over the phone. Ask them to send an addressed return envelope and information on their organization. Tell them you want to research it. Reputable companies will do this. Scammers will not.
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