Scammers Taking Advantage of Online Holiday Shoppers, Student Loan Borrowers
15 Dicembre 2022 - 3:54PM
Business Wire
Allstate Identity Protection cautions potential
targets to be vigilant
Nearly one in ten Americans have fallen victim to scams
involving federal student debt forgiveness, and two in five of
these victims are being contacted at least once a week or more,
according to the latest edition of Allstate Identity Protection’s
“Identity Fraud in Focus” quarterly report.1
The findings come as legal battles leave millions of student
loan borrowers in limbo. Scammers are exploiting the situation by
calling borrowers directly and promising to help get a student loan
discharge, forgiveness, cancellation, or debt relief for a fee if
the borrower ‘acts fast.’
“You don’t have to pay anyone to obtain debt relief. The
application from the Department of Education is free and you can do
it all yourself,” says Allstate Identity Protection Restoration
Manager Vera Tolmachoff.
The most common form of contact for student loan debt relief
scams is by phone. Emails and texts are also popular mediums for
scammers to target victims.
Watch out for online holiday shopping scams.
This quarter’s “Identity Fraud in Focus” report also takes a
look at online holiday shopping scams and finds that personal
information theft is the costliest type of fraud, with over half of
surveyed victims losing up to $249 dollars. The most common type of
online holiday shopping scam is when someone sends money for an
item, but doesn’t receive it.2
“Consumers have to be really careful over the holidays,” said
Allstate Identity Protection Director of Customer Care Brian
Stuart. “Watch out for prices that seem impossibly low, make sure
to only shop on secure sites, and always embrace a healthy
skepticism.”
When it comes to online shopping scams, nearly half of U.S.
adults are worried about becoming a victim, and roughly a third
claim they have been a victim of an online shopping scam in the
past.
Allstate Identity Protection is committed to providing essential
information, tools, and resources to help protect you from fraud.
For more detailed current fraud trends, including tips on how
Americans can safeguard their personal information and avoid scams,
check out the full "Identity Fraud in Focus" report.
[1, 2] This poll was conducted between November 11-14, 2022 on
behalf of Allstate by Morning Consult, among a national sample of
2212 adults. The interviews were conducted online, and the data
were weighted to approximate a target sample of adults based on
age, educational attainment, gender, race, and region. Results from
the full survey have a margin of error of +/- 2%.
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Alexandria Bennett mediateam@allstate.com 847-402-5600
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