FBI warns of various types of scams during holiday season in the Bay Area – NBC Bay Area

As shoppers take advantage of the holiday sales and prepare for gift-giving season, the San Francisco Division of the FBI is anticipating more fraud schemes proliferating online.

The FBI said Monday that fraudsters are getting more creative every year in stealing people’s money and personal information.

The most common frauds are categorized as non-delivery and non-payment offenses, where the buyer pays for the goods and never receives them, or the seller never receives payment after the items are shipped to the customer.

According to the FBI’s latest cybercrime report, more than 2,100 Bay Area residents complained of non-delivery or non-payment offenses in 2021, representing more than $8 million in losses.

Santa Clara County had the most losses last year, followed by Alameda and San Francisco counties.

The FBI also warns netizens of “pig slaughter” schemes, in which a fraudster develops a relationship with a victim online and convinces her to invest in fraudulent cryptocurrency. The victim will be directed to a cryptocurrency website, invest in the cryptocurrency, and receive a notice that their investment has been declined. Then the scammer disappears and takes the victim’s money with him.

Other scams the FBI warns about: fake offers through deceptive emails and ads, promotions on social networking sites for cash surveys, gift card scams, fake charities, and apps designed as free games to steal people’s personal data.

Although there are many scams, the FBI has pointed out major red flags to watch out for.

“We want the public to know that there are actions they can take to reduce their chances of becoming a victim of Internet fraud,” said FBI Special Agent Robert Tripp. “The FBI encourages consumers to treat online purchases as if they walked into a physical location: be careful, be vigilant, and protect your personal information and money.”

The FBI encourages residents to use strong, different passwords for each financial account, avoid clicking on suspicious links, beware of offers that are too good to be true, beware of purchases that require a gift card, instead use a credit card, and always get Get tracking numbers for online purchases. Residents who believe they are a victim of fraud can report it to the FBI at IC3.gov or call the local FBI office in San Francisco at 415-553-7400.