The Holidays and the Things You Want to Avoid

Christmastime is just several days away. This early, Texans are now busy with the hassle and the rush for meals and shopping for Christmas gifts. And as the busy season approaches, expect con artists to be busy too - looking for their victims. So in line with your holiday activities, always be on the lookout for holiday scams. There are five most popular holiday scams and these are phony charities, credit repair scam, gift card scams, online shopping schemes, spam e-mail and other unsolicited offers. Here are some tips on how to avoid these scams and have a happy holiday.

This time of the year is perfect for sharing your blessings. But be warned as charity is now being used as a front to collect money. What donors should do is to ask questions first and for identification. Texans can also verify charitable institution via the site give.org which is maintained by the Council of Better Business Bureau that promotes wise charity giving. Tax-exempt status should also be validated first before donating some money, to ensure that your donations will indeed go to the needy and not with some bogus person or group. With unsolicited offers, Texans are advised to never respond to spam emails sent by strangers and offers made by unknown companies.

Another favorite among scammers is by using internet. Gift cards is one of the most accessible, given that serial numbers printed on gift cards and are displayed on store counters. What the scammers will do is to memorize serial numbers. And as you purchase and activate the card, all the scammer would do it to confirm with customer service if the card has been activated and then proceed with thieving via online purchase. A similar modus operandi is used with spam email and online shopping. The scammers' first step is to deliver bulk emails, offer travel deals or merchandise. And once you've divulged your credit card information, the rest is easy via online shopping.

Another famous phony internet scam is credit repair scams. Credit repairs are the ones who should be helping you with you credit statement. But with these scammers, all that matters is the upfront processing fee that will be charged to you. What to do is to be vigilant and avoid credit repair offers like these. In line with online credit repair help, verify a web site's security first and read online credit repair help guide.