Cybercrimes spike during the holiday season. Here’s how to avoid online scams

LOS ANGELES () — As shoppers rush to buy last-minute holiday gifts, scammers are rushing to steal your money and personal information.

Fraud investigators warn cybercrimes spike this time of year, especially scams targeting online shoppers.

“People are in a rush. They’re trying to do their Christmas shopping, trying to get it done before Christmas comes,” said Sgt. Peter Hish, an investigator with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Fraud and Cyber Crimes Bureau.

“They’re not paying attention to the text messages and emails they’re getting and making an error by clicking on something they shouldn’t,” Hish added.

A common holiday scam starts with a text message like one claiming there’s an issue with a package delivery.

“It looks like it’s from the United States Postal Service. It says USPS right here,” Hish said pointing to an example of a message. “But slow down, read the whole text and notice that it’s actually from a domain named ‘infortrck.'”

Click the link, and you’re taken to a website that looks legitimate, but take a close look at the URL and you realize that it’s not the post office.

The fake site asks for credit card information.

Investigators say scammers sometimes create a sense of urgency to pressure victims into acting quickly.

Hish urges to stay away from too-good-to-be-true offers, or those that have a time limit.

“Those are urgencies that the person puts on those ads to make you stop thinking and react,” he said.

In other cases, scammers rely on fear. Investigators say one elderly woman in Santa Clarita was told there was a warrant for her arrest and she would go to jail unless she paid.

“The scammer got her to go to the 7-Eleven and buy several hundred dollars in Google gift cards, scratch off the numbers and give the Google gift card numbers to the scammer,” Hish said.

She lost $885 and paid it in cash.

Investigators also stress the importance of how you pay online. Use a credit card.

“If you use your debit card, that money is coming right out of your bank account – and it’s gone,” Hish said.

Authorities urge shoppers to slow down, double check website addresses and never click on unexpected links. If something feels urgent or too good to be true, it probably is.