MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Happy Cyber Monday, which, of course, comes hot on the heels of last week's Black Friday deals. It is official - the holiday shopping frenzy is upon us. This year holiday sales are expected to increase by 2.5 to 3.5% from last year. That's according to the National Retail Federation. Now, alas, with all this seasonal shopping comes more opportunity for financial and identity theft. Kelly Richmond Pope is professor of forensic accounting at DePaul University in Chicago and joins us now with a few tips on how to protect yourself from online fraud as you embark on your holiday shopping. Welcome.
KELLY RICHMOND POPE: Thanks for having me.
KELLY: Start with the why. Why do we see scams rise around the holidays? Is that just simple math? More purchases means more scamming opportunities?
POPE: Absolutely. I mean, we see an increased amount of spending, and that really is the driving force behind why we see more scams during the holiday season.
KELLY: And who is being scammed? Who's most vulnerable?
POPE: So here's the thing - everybody. Whether it's teenagers, whether it's young adults, the elderly, everyone is vulnerable because we are such in the holiday spirit. We're more trusting, and we're just buying, buying, buying. There are these websites that just sort of reach out to us and speak to us. We want to help charities. So we are just in this giving season. I think Giving Tuesday is coming up. And so all of those things really fuel the scam industry, if you will.
KELLY: What about - I repeatedly, in the last month, kept getting texts from, quote-unquote, "Amazon." And not to rip on Amazon, but kept telling me, hey. We tried to deliver your package. We couldn't. And I'm thinking, I don't remember ordering from Amazon, but I - or who knows? So, like, the instinct is, let me click on it and make sure I get my package.
POPE: I'll tell you what I do is I try to keep a list of everything that I've purchased in a certain week or a certain time period. So I make the purchase, and then I pay attention to when should the package come. So I just try to keep a mental log, maybe just a little Excel spreadsheet, maybe even use the notes app in your phone so you can keep track of those purchases because what that scammer is hoping that you do is forget and second-guess yourself. And so I try not to let that happen to myself by just really being diligent about the notes I take so that when I get something from West Elm that says, hey, we tried to deliver something, my first instinct is to say, well, I didn't order anything from West Elm.
KELLY: Another thing to watch for - fake websites, websites that look really close to the website you were trying to get onto and buy something but aren't quite right.
POPE: And this is the thing. There are some really good fake websites now, but you have to pay attention. Pay attention to the tone of the website. Pay attention even to the website address because sometimes there's one character that's slightly different that would let you know that it's a fraudulent website.
So if I were wanting to make a donation, I would do some research on the charity to make sure it is a legitimate charity before you give any information, especially any personal identification information like your credit card, your address, your Social Security number. Like, if they're asking for some of those things, be very, very vigilant and go to the actual website. If there's a phone number, call it because the last thing you ever want is for someone to steal your identity.
KELLY: Any other top tips for us to keep top of mind as we navigate holiday shopping season?
POPE: Just slow down because one of the things that scammers really prey on is urgency. So they think, hey. You need to act fast or you're going to miss out on this deal. You're probably not going to miss out. Read the fine print. Make sure the website is right. Pay attention to the tone. Pay attention to who sent the message to you because a lot of times the red flags are staring us right in the face, but our hurry just makes us overlook things that are just staring at us. So just slow down.
KELLY: I guess another top tip would be get off your sofa. Get off your computer and just walk into the dang store. It makes it a lot harder to be the victim of online fraud.
POPE: It does. Just take five seconds. Take a deep breath. Read it a little bit closer before you click. If it seems suspicious, it probably is. Don't click.
KELLY: Professor Kelly Richmond Pope is author of "Fool Me Once: Scams, Stories, And Secrets From The Trillion-Dollar Fraud Industry." Thanks so much.
POPE: Thanks for having me.
KELLY: And happy shopping.
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