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Be on the lookout for holiday text scams

Be on the lookout for holiday text scams
Be on the lookout for holiday text scams 01:03

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - It's the most wonderful time of the year for thieves to target your identity.

This is the prime season for texting scams.

Last holiday season, nearly 75% of Americans were targeted by scams. Text scams were the most popular last year, as well as delivery scams.

Those prompted victims to click a link to provide personal information or even money, so their package could be delivered.

There were many fake fraud alerts by thieves posing as your bank.

Finally, there were verification scams, such as asking you to verify your Amazon account so you can continue shopping.

"They're really hoping that they're going to catch you off guard and you want to just make that problem go away, and you react so quickly. But once you get those, you need to slow down because they're really just trying to catch you," George Cray said. Cray acts as the Senior Vice President of iconectiv.

How can you protect yourself?

Always validate a message that's asking for money or your personal information by going directly to the source.

Additionally, never click on a link in a text.

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