Keep you and your practice safe from scams this holiday season

For both dental practices and individuals, the holiday season is often a time of celebration, gifts, spreading joy and looking back over another year past. Unfortunately, it is also a time when criminal scam artists are extremely active looking to take advantage of businesses and individuals.

Vigilance against both online and real-world scams is always warranted, but it’s even more critical around the holidays when it is easier to be distracted with year-end tasks, shopping for gifts, and tracking packages. Fortunately, there are numerous organizations keeping an eye on these criminal schemes, and there are plenty of signs to watch for and strategies to follow to help you and your practice avoid having a scam disrupt your celebrations.

Here are some guides and resources that can help keep you and your practice safe this season:

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) publishes and annual list of “12 scams targeting businesses during the holidays” with details on the scams and tips on how to avoid them. This year’s list includes information on scams such as compromised emails where fraudsters spoof your vendor, colleague, or owner’s email to request unauthorized payments or gift card purchases; phony invoices for supplies or services you never ordered; fake charity pitches that mimic legitimate causes; overpayment scams where a fake customer sends a check for more than owed and asks for the difference back before the check bounces; and phishing scams that attempt to steal credentials and valuable business [PT1] data. While the general advice is to stay alert and double check the source of any request, the BBB offers more details on all of these scams and specific tips to help spot and avoid them.

Federal agencies are also a source of information to help you and your business avoid scams during the holiday season, and year round. The Federal Trade Commission has a webpage dedicated to scams with consumer alerts detailing the latest reported frauds and scams of all types. If you receive a request that seems suspect, a quick check of the FTC website could help you confirm if it is indeed a scam making the rounds.[PT2]  The FTC website also includes a portal for reporting scams.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection recently published its annual holiday advisory to help businesses avoid online scams. This guide includes warnings about scams business impersonation, charitable giving, and requests involving gift card purchases. It also warns about the growing use of artificial intelligence to make fraudulent requests seem more genuine, and cryptocurrencies to make stolen funds harder to trace or recover. The guide recommends using payment methods such as credit cards with fraud protection capabilities, and enabling multi-factor authentication and complex passwords.

The Federal Communications Commission also published details on avoiding scams this holiday season. This guide warns about new scams this year involving tariffs with fake texts or emails warning of a package that is stuck in customs until the tariff is paid. The FFC notes that it’s important to double check tracking numbers, avoid clicking links in emails and texts, and to contact the retailer directly if something is suspicious. The guide also offers advice on avoiding caller-ID spoofing and holiday charity scams.

The U.S. Postal Service also published a guide on scams to avoid when it comes to your mailbox and package deliveries. This guide warns of a scam technique known as brushing, where an unordered package arrives with goods you didn’t order, and then the scammers write fake online reviews in your name. This is often accompanied by a QR code included in the package and designed to lead you to a fraudulent registration website in order to steal personal information. While the guide notes that you are legally allowed to keep the unsolicited merchandise, it’s important to avoid scanning links or visiting websites listed on the materials shipped with these goods.

While scammers are busy this time of year, avoiding their schemes often requires just one or two extra steps to verify details before sending money or entering personal information into an online portal. Use these guides and tips to help you and your practice stay safe as you celebrate this holiday season.