SHERIDAN (WNE) — A new 2023 AARP Fraud Watch report highlights the ways criminals target consumers during the holiday season. According to the report, 80% of U.S. consumers say they have experienced some type of fraud this year, and reports ramp up over the holiday shopping season.

Holiday shopping scams — from fake notifications about shipments to online ad scams and more — have increased from last year’s report.

Fraudsters often place fake ads online and across popular social media sites for steep discounts on the hottest items.

Use of peer-to-peer payment services has increased significantly for a second year in a row.

A large majority of respondents shared they do business via P2P apps — such as sending money to businesses they have no previous relationship with. In the unfortunate event of fraud, these apps provide little protection to affected consumers.

Gift cards continue to be popular gift options, with 66% of those surveyed planning to purchase them this holiday season. However, 27% of consumers have experienced either giving or receiving a gift card with no value on it.

“Criminals have old-school ways of manipulating cards hanging on retail racks and high-tech ways of searching online for cards with balances and draining them,” said Kathy Stokes, AARP director of fraud prevention programs. “It may be safest to purchase a gift card directly from the card issuer’s website.”

AARP offers the following reminders to avoid fraud:

• Credit cards offer the most consumer protections of any payment method.

• Regularly upgrading the operating system on your device is important, as some updates are to patch known fraud vulnerabilities.

• Don’t do a web search for a company’s customer support network because criminals buy ads impersonating those companies.

• Check billing and credit card statements for customer service, use the number on the back of your credit cards or go directly to the company by typing in its web address.