Halloween scams: Halloween is a highly anticipated and widely celebrated occasion across numerous nations worldwide. During this period, shopping activity spikes, with people buying various seasonal items like costumes, sweets, decorations, and tech gadgets.

With the rapid shift towards digitization, consumers now prefer online shopping over physical store visits, a convenience that comes with risks, including identity theft and financial crimes.

Online scams are continually increasing, and during the holiday season, hackers and online fraudsters tend to favour this time to target their victims. Halloween has emerged as a preferred occasion for cybercriminals to engage in various financial scams, causing significant financial losses to consumers.

Increasing Dangers of Identity Theft Around Halloween

Identity theft has become a major problem for police around the world. Governments are working hard to find ways to stop it. Cybercriminals strategize to carry out malicious activities during enjoyable occasions like Halloween while people are engrossed in their festive celebrations. People often ignore warning messages on their phones and emails during such times, which helps criminals get away without leaving any evidence behind.

Scammers often trick people with tempting deals, such as discounts and coupons, but in the end, users usually lose their money and personal information. When scammers get hold of customers’ identities, they can use this information to carry out various scams, including stealing money from bank accounts, credit card fraud, and taking control of accounts.

Online Scams Associated with Halloween

Let’s have a look at four super-scary scams that are quite prevalent during the Halloween season:

Credit Card Scams

Credit card fraud is a significant problem these days. Halloween is an event when a substantial number of credit card-related crimes occur. Scammers usually trick citizens by extracting their credit card information. This is done either through deceptive emails or fake websites and social media offers. Consumers should be very careful before filling out a form with their card details and ensure they are in a secure transaction environment.

Fake Shopping Websites

During events like Halloween, when people increasingly turn to online shopping and conduct numerous transactions, criminals view this as an opportunity to engage in fraudulent activities. Many scammers set up fake online stores featuring a range of relevant products and offering them at discounted prices. When customers place orders and make payments, these scammers disappear without a trace, leaving customers empty-handed and deceived.

Deceptive Deals

This is a commonly employed method by criminals to scam users. Scammers offer attractive offers, bonuses, and coupons to persuade customers to use their services. When users provide their information to access these offers, they often unwittingly give away sensitive details such as credit card or bank account numbers. With this information, scammers can gain control over other online accounts, potentially losing valuable assets for the victims.

Fake Ticket Fraud

Halloween is a time filled with entertainment, and many users intend to attend amusement parks, concerts, or other events. Criminals exploit this situation by posting fake advertisements for these shows and selling advance tickets. After successfully collecting money from unsuspecting users, the criminals disappear, leaving customers to suffer financial losses.