Google Says 'Watch Out' For Holiday Season Scams: Pay Attention To These Red Flags

Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google is asking users to stay "extra vigilant" during the holiday season as "tricksters, including spammers and scammers," see it as the perfect time to take advantage of others. 

What Happened: On Tuesday, Google shared five common scams Gmail users must "watch out for" during the holiday season.

These are: 

Gift cards and giveaways: Scammers may attempt to trick users into purchasing a gift card or offer a prize to attain credit card information— sometimes using the guise of a known contact.  

Charities: Users should be on the lookout for anyone asking for contact information or sending money to them directly. 

Demographic targeting: Beware of identity-based malicious emails. 

Subscription renewals: Always check the sender's email. If it looks off, it may be fraudulent. 

Crypto scams: If an email has typos, the address seems dodgy, or there is a demand or threat to send money to a crypto wallet, stop there. 

See Also: How To Buy Google (GOOGL) Stock

Why It's Important: In the past week, Google says it has blocked over 231 billion spam and phishing messages — 10% higher than the average volume. Usually, it blocks about 99.9% of nearly 15 billion unwanted messages daily. 

The tech giant warns that while con artists are "pesky and persistent" during the best of times, they are more extreme during the holiday season. 

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