GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — The holiday season is upon us and unfortunately, scammers are taking full advantage. From deceivingly realistic Amazon confirmations to suspicious calls form a non profit asking for donations, there are a lot of different ways that scammers prey on the unsuspecting.
Kelly S. Olson Pedersen, founder and CEO of Caissa Wealth Strategies in Bloomington, stopped by the KARE 11 studio to break down the popular scams viewers should watch out for and ways to help protect themselves. Among her tips are trusting your gut, watching for telltale signs like extra words in links or email addresses, and doing some quick research when you aren’t sure.
Popular scams this season include phony emails that look like they are coming from trusted companies like Amazon, Apple and FedEx; ads for deals that are too good to be true; and donation requests for fake charities.
You should trust their gut and check before linking a link, visiting a website or purchasing from a site they aren’t sure about. Checking for misspellings or extra words in website and email addresses, doing a quick Google search, or looking up a charity on a site like CharityWatch are quick and simple ways to protect yourself.