FTA Kicks off Holiday Shopping Season with “Smarter Than Scams” Consumer Education Campaign

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Financial Technology Association launched a national campaign, “Smarter Than Scams,” to empower consumers with the tools to recognize and avoid payment scams during the holiday shopping season. Sending money for the holidays has never been easier, with four in five Americans using a peer-to-peer payment app such as Cash App or Venmo. From texts to social media posts, scammers are looking to take advantage of shoppers during the busy holiday season.

“Consumers can outsmart scams this holiday season with a few simple but powerful steps,” said Penny Lee, President and CEO of the Financial Technology Association. “We’re launching this campaign to help consumers spot and stop scams so they can keep their money and personal information safe.”

Three-quarters of holiday shoppers will encounter scams over the holiday season. Some of the common holiday scams include requesting a deposit in advance to secure a gift, falsely soliciting donations for charity, asking consumers to pay scammers with a gift card, phony or suspicious invoices, impersonating someone else to steal a consumer’s data, or sending phishing emails trying to bait consumers into opening a harmful attachment or clicking a link.

FTA’s national “Smarter Than Scams” campaign will help consumers spot the signs of these common scams and deploy simple, easy-to-use tips to avoid them this holiday season. FTA’s campaign outlines three steps consumers can take to protect themselves.

1) Protect Your Personal Information by never sharing personal information, social security number, or login information with anyone and keeping any sign-in codes or magic links private.
2) Be Aware of Account Activity by ensuring your account notifications, such as two-factor authentication and alerts for new device logins, are turned on.
3) Pause Before You Pay by only sending money to people you know and trust and verifying and double-checking all recipient information.

Leading payment companies such as Cash App and PayPal (owners of Venmo) have taken steps to protect their customers from scams, leveraging cutting-edge fraud detection technology and providing user experience controls to help consumers block and report suspicious activity. For more information, visit SmarterThanScams.com.

ABOUT US 
The Financial Technology Association (FTA) is a Washington, DC-based trade association representing industry leaders shaping the future of finance. We champion the power of technology-centered financial services and advocate for the modernization of financial regulation to support inclusion and responsible innovation.