CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s down to holiday crunch time. While we run around thinking of everyone on our list, it’s easy to get careless and potentially leave ourselves open to becoming the victim of a scam.
Experts say keeping your money safe is as simple as slowing down.
"It is so important to slow down, especially during this time of year where we're trying to get all of our shopping done," personal finance expert Jully-Alma Taveras said. "And we're also looking for the best deal out there, right? So, it's important to kind fo know that scammers are really trying to create this false sense of urgency to help to get you to do things really quickly."
WCNC Charlotte is always asking "where's the money?" If you need help, reach out to the Defenders team by emailing money@wcnc.com.
Taveras said the biggest scam tactic going around is related to text messages.
"You'll receive a text message that is asking you to validate a purchase or to confirm if you sent someone money," she said. "And when you reply, no, because you didn't do that, they actually call you and they pretend to be from the fraud department of your bank."
Taveras says in an attempt to convince you they're real, scammers will ask for your username, password and any account numbers you have. Taveras said it's important for everyone to know that banks don't actually do that.
"They don't ask you for personal information, they definitely don't ask you for passwords," she said. "And they definitely do not ask you to send them or anyone else money."
If you’re not sure if something is real or a scam, Taveras says contact your bank yourself.
"If you have a sense that maybe this could be real, the best thing to do is call the number on the back of the card, or you can walk into a local branch, and they can confirm if they actually sent you a message or not," she said.
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