Stay on alert for scams going into the new year

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) – The holiday shopping season may be coming to a close, but you should still be on alert for shopping scams.

“The fake package delivery text that we’re all receiving, those are not going away,” said Josh Planos with the Better Business Bureau. “Certainly it was a more popular time during the month of December to receive those because a lot of us were doing online shopping, but those are going to continue because they’re really effective.”

General phishing had a huge year in 2024, with Americans losing millions to scammers impersonating repeating companies through emails or other types of messaging to obtain personal information.

Planos advises shoppers to be wary of ads on social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram.

“Just because an ad appears on your timeline doesn’t mean it’s received a stamp of approval from a legal council. It just means that someone has cut a check to that social media platform,” said Planos.

One way to avoid getting scammed online, is to shop local.

“If you can shop locally, that’s a really great place to do your business,” said Planos.“Those are people that are your neighbors, those are your community members, those are people also that you know you can get a hold of if something doesn’t go according to plan.”

Planos said scammers often don’t answer the phone, simply because they don’t have to.

Another popular time of year for scams is coming up in February with Valentine’s Day scams.

If you think you’ve been scammed or are being targeted for a scam, report it to the BBB here.

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