Avoiding Scams This Holiday Season

Published Nov. 26, 2024

It’s wise to be vigilant about preventing fraud or identity theft at any time, but scammers particularly target the holiday season to take advantage of victims. Kinecta is committed to protecting your account and keeping your information secure, but criminals trick consumers into giving them information to commit fraud.

Don’t let them ruin your holiday cheer, follow these tips to stay safe:

Practice good online hygiene.

• Don’t click any suspicious links or attachments in emails or texts, on websites or on social media. Phishing scams and similar crimes aim to get you to click on links and give up personal information like your name, password, PIN, bank account number or digital banking credentials or one-time passcodes. In some cases, you may unknowingly download malicious software to your device.
• Scammers may even impersonate your financial institution, government agencies or family members. Verify by calling the organization or person they are representing directly. Look up the organization’s website to find their phone number.

Know who you are buying from.

• Shop with trusted, secure websites. Check each website’s URL to make sure it’s legitimate and secure. A site you’re buying from should have “https” in the web address. If it doesn’t, don’t enter your information on that site.
• If you’re purchasing from a company for the first time, do your research and check reviews.
• If a deal is too good to be true, it probably is. Don’t fall for urgent, limited-time deals from sources you don’t know.

Be careful how you pay.

• Avoid paying for items with pre-paid gift cards. In these scams, a seller will ask you to send them a gift card number and PIN. Instead of using that gift card for your payment, the scammer will steal the funds, and you’ll never receive your item.
• Use a credit card when shopping online and check your statement regularly.

Use Kinecta’s digital tools.

• If you see a suspicious transaction, you can dispute the charge in digital banking or the mobile app.
• Under Card Management in digital banking, you can place a temporary block on your debit or credit card.
• With Kinecta’s mobile app, you can enable push notifications so you are instantly alerted to account activity (navigate to Settings under Tools and select Alerts).

Remember, Kinecta will never text or email you to ask for secure information. If you believe your Kinecta account has been compromised, please contact us immediately at 800.854.9846.

Learn more at Kinecta’s Security Center.