Season's Cheatings: Beware of Holiday Scams. An AARP ...

SEASON'S CHEATINGS:

BEWARE OF HOLIDAY SCAMS

AN AARP WASHINGTON SURVEY OF ADULTS 18+

December 2019

RESEARCH | ? 2019 AARP ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

DOI:

AARP RESEARCH

Table of Contents

Background and Methodology

3

Key Findings

5

Fraud Safety Quiz

6

Gift Cards

8

Charitable Giving

13

Shipping Packages

21

Methodology

27

Appendix

29

RESEARCH | ? 2019 AARP ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

AARP RESEARCH 2

BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY

`Tis the season...to be on the lookout for possible scams and fraud. It's during this time of year that individuals are more focused on the spirit of the holidays and less focused on what may be happening with their pocketbook. For example, typically, consumers purchase gift cards as presents for people they know. But scammers have found a way to drain gift cards as soon as they are purchased. And, over the past several years, scammers have been demanding gift cards as payment by impersonating a government official or a utility company.[1] Also, it's not uncommon for someone to receive a call from a cause or organization asking for a donation this time of year. In fact, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reported that California residents should be on the lookout for scams asking for donations for victims of the wildfires across the state.[2] And we should all be aware that an email from a package delivery service about a delivery problem could actually be a scam intended to pry sensitive information from us or unleash malicious software on our devices.[3]

AARP conducted a survey of 893 Washington adults ages 18 and older to understand people's awareness of and experience with a variety of scams that are common around the holidays. The study explored experiences with purchasing gift cards, shipping and receiving packages, and charitable giving. In addition, the survey tested the knowledge of adults about several specific scams. This survey has a sampling margin of error of ? 4.1 percent. This survey was also conducted nationally and in three other states: Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.

The national report, all four state reports, and their respective annotated questionnaires and full methodology reports may be viewed at seasonscheatings.

RESEARCH | ? 2019 AARP ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

AARP RESEARCH 3

RESEARCH | ? 2019 AARP ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

KEY FINDINGS

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Key Findings

Many Washington adults (35%) do not conduct research on charities before making a donation. Eight in 10 Washingtonians do not look up the charity when it is a police or firefighter organization. About 3 in 10 Washington adults say that they have received a request for a donation to a charity or cause that was likely a fake or fraudulent solicitation.

A majority of Washington adults (83%) say they allow packages to be left outside of their home without requiring a signature. Well over a third (38%) of Washington adults say they never require a signature when shipping packages to home addresses. One in five report that they have had a package stolen from their home.

Most Washington adults (70%) plan to buy gift cards during the holiday season, Over one in five Washington adults have given and/or received a gift card that had no funds on it, some of which may be the result of fraud. Nearly one in 10 Washington adults report that they have been asked to purchase gift cards to pay money owed to a government authority, an obvious scam. Over half of those who received such scam requests (56%) went through with the transaction and bought a gift card.

More education is needed to raise awareness of scams that are common during the holidays. This survey tested respondents' knowledge about scams during the holidays with a `quiz' of five true or false statements. About one in five (19%) Washington adults failed the quiz.

RESEARCH | ? 2019 AARP ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

AARP RESEARCH 5

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