Hassan, Sununu warn NH residents about journey scams

Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan and former Republican Gov. Chris Sununu joined client advocates and authorities officers this week to warn New Hampshire residents about journey scams through the vacation season.

“We’re seeing a real spike in scams right now,” Hassan stated. “Especially concerning holiday travel because it becomes, for scammers, a pretty target rich environment. People are busy making last minute travel plans, trying to handle Christmas shopping, work, family and everything else.”

Hassan stated scammers are attempting to extract cash and delicate private data by sending texts and emails that make it look like there is a matter with a journey reserving and tricking individuals into clicking fraudulent hyperlinks.

They’re additionally utilizing AI to impersonate family members, well-known individuals or customer support reps to additional stress individuals into handing over data.

Senators and different members of U.S. Congress’ Joint Economic Committee issued a bipartisan consumer alert final week concerning scams.

Sununu joined the convention in his capability because the president and CEO of Airlines for America, the nation’s main aviation business lobbying group.

“Be very cautious of information that comes in through text or phone numbers that you don’t recognize,” he stated.

He suggested shoppers to report any scams they encounter and ensure to ebook immediately with lodges and airways. He stated anybody of any age or demographic may be focused.

Consumer advocates stated that these kinds of scams have developed quickly up to now 5 years, with most scammers tied to transnational crime rings and able to utilizing know-how to govern victims.

“Given the nature of the crime and the sophistication of the tools, it’s really important to understand that being defrauded is not the victim’s fault,” stated AARP Fraud Watch Network’s chief Kathy Stokes. “It’s a crime, the biggest crime in our country and around the world.”

Stokes inspired potential victims to take a second to pause and contemplate if a too-good-to-be-true textual content or electronic mail appears legit.

A consultant for the New Hampshire Department of Justice, who additionally spoke through the name, stated shoppers can go to the state DOJ’s consumer protection and antitrust bureau website for extra data on avoiding scams.