Scam Alert – Black Friday

Everyone wants to save money.  A good way to keep an eye on your bottom line is through coupons.  Online coupons are very popular, but watch out for the too-good-to-be-true coupon offers that will lead you to a malicious website asking you for your credit card information and other personal data. A lot of these fake offers will try to lure you in with promises of winning free gifts including iPads and other coveted electronic devices. Make sure the coupon offers that you’re chasing down are from legitimate sources.  If you’ve never heard of the company, or if the known company’s logo looks slightly different in some way, make like Dasher, Prancer, and Blitzen, and move quickly out of there. You might also receive emails or texts about this year’s hot or hard-to-get gift items that will lead you to rogue websites and get you to pay for items that you’ll never receive.  These scams can also show up on social networking sites like Facebook too, so keep an eye out for unsolicited messages and posts that are offering deals that sound too good to be true.  As with most of the scams we report, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.  Trust yourself and keep yourself (and your bank account) safe this holiday season.