CONTACT: Lisa Schiller, Media Relations
PHONE: (414) 847- 6055
FAX: (414) 302- 0355
E-MAIL: lschiller@wisconsin.bbb.org
The holiday season is here, and so are the scams. Watch out for fraudulent website offering “Letters from Santa.” Some of these sites promise a custom letter from the man at the North Pole but don’t deliver.
Milwaukee, Wis. – How the Scam Works: You get an email selling a “Handwritten letter from Santa to Your Child.” It encourages you to make your child’s holiday by purchasing “Santa’s special package” for $19.99.
You click on the link, and it takes you to a website. The site promises the special package contains an “official” nice-list certification and customized letter from Santa. There’s even a free shipping special that ends (not coincidentally) in just few hours. You decide to purchase and enter your credit card information.
Don’t do it! In the best case, you are simply out the $19.99. In the worst case scenario, you just shared your credit card information with scammers, who can now use it for identity theft.
In another version of this scam, the site promises a free letter from Santa. It doesn’t request any credit card information, but it does require plenty of personal information, such as your full name, address and phone number. These sites can then turn around and sell your personal information to spammers.
“BBBs have seen complaints from consumers in several states regarding this scam,” said Ran Hoth Better Business Bureau Serving Wisconsin CEO and President. “Remember, there are legitimate Santa letter websites out there. Check out a company, first, with BBB.org. BBB Business Reviews are completely free.”
How to Spot a Scam Website:
Follow these tips for spotting an online scam:
– Ignore calls for immediate action. Many scams try to get you to act before you think by creating a sense of urgency (including the scam above). Don’t fall for it.
– Hover over links in emails to check their source. Scammers will make links look like something else. Place your mouse over hyper-linked text and the true destination will appear.
– Make sure the website has (real) contact information. If something goes wrong with your order, you need to be able to contact the business. When in doubt confirm that the address and phone number are real.
– Do your research. Check out the business on BBB.org and do a quick web search.
-Make sure you pay through a secure connection. When entering credit card information online, be sure that the URL starts with “HTTPS” and has a lock icon in the browser bar.
– Watch for poor grammar and spelling. Scam emails and websites often are riddled with typos. This is often a giveaway that you aren’t dealing with a real business.
For More Information
To find out more about other scams, check out BBB Scam Stopper.
Nominate a deserving Wisconsin business or non-profit for the BBB Torch Awards for Ethics.
For more information or further inquiries, contact the Wisconsin BBB at www.bbb.org/wisconsin or 414-847-6000 (metro Milwaukee), 920-734-4352 (Appleton), 608-268-2221 (Madison) or 1-800-273-1002 (elsewhere in Wisconsin). Consumers also can find more information about how to protect themselves from scams by following the Wisconsin BBB on Twitter, Facebook and You Tube.
ABOUT BBB: For more than 100 years, Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands and charities they can trust. In 2013, people turned to BBB more than 132 million times for BBB Business Reviews on more than 4.5 million businesses and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at bbb.org/wisconsin. The Council of Better Business Bureaus is the umbrella organization for 112 local, independent BBBs across North America, as well as home to its national programs on dispute resolution, advertising review, and industry self-regulation. BBB Serving Wisconsin was founded in 1939 and serves the state of Wisconsin.
