The Christmas shopping season is underway!  The Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities (DoBS) and Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) are sharing tips to help Pennsylvanians spot scams and protect their money and personal information.  Scam artists will use every tactic available to obtain your sensitive financial information.  Be on the alert for phishing emails, skimming and e-skimming device scams, and gift card fraud.  To prevent fraud, monitor your accounts for strange activity, never follow links in unsolicited emails, if a phone call seems suspicious – hang up, and be skeptical. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you have fallen victim to a scam, contact your financial institution and local police department.  Victims can also file a complaint with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at https://www.ic3.gov/.

Authorities say a scam involving fake representatives from the Social Security Administration is making the rounds.  Lewistown Police received a report on November 20th from a 21-year-old woman who fell victim to the scam.  The caller used several pieces of sensitive information, including the victim’s Social Security number.  The woman was instructed to purchase $2,000 in Walmart gift cards.  The Lewistown Police Department reminds the public that legitimate businesses and government agencies do not request payments using gift cards or similar forms of payment.  If you receive a request of this nature, do not comply.  Contact local police. 

Sales are underway for the Pennsylvania Lottery’s New Year’s Millionaire Raffle, which features eight $100,000 Weekly Drawings leading up to the January 2nd, 2021 drawing. This is the 15th year that the PA Lottery is offering the special raffle.  The January 2nd drawing will award 6,000 cash prizes totaling more than $5 million.  Sales run through Saturday, January 2nd at 8:00 pm (unless sold out sooner).   On January 2nd, winning numbers will be randomly selected by a computer and posted at palottery.com after 10:00 pm.