The spirit of Christmas usually brings out the joy of giving for most people, but for scammers the holidays are a time of taking.

Buying gifts and donating to charities presents countless opportunities for scrooges and scammers to swindle consumers out of personal information and hard-earned money. Shoppers are encouraged to be mindful of scamming fraudsters, who unlike the Grinch, will not return your money or gifts.

"Whether you shop online or in the malls, you are exposed to a variety of holiday scams and frauds," says Sandra Crozier-McKee, president and CEO of BBB Serving Southern Alberta and East Kootenay. "Scammers are looking to take advantage of people's generosity so it is crucial for consumers to be on the look out for fraudulent charities, phony online retailers or even pick-pockets in crowded stores."

So, in the spirit of savvy consumerism, Better Business Bureau offers The 12 Scams of Christmas:

12. Malware e-cards:

Viruses and malware often travel in email attachments or links. Don’t click on emails from someone you don’t know or a name you don’t recognize. When it doubt, delete!

11. Stranded grandkids:

It’s the classic “grandparent scam.” If your grandchild, other relative or friend calls or emails to say they were robbed or hurt overseas, check before wiring money.

10. Counterfeit gifts:

Low prices on luxury goods are almost always cheap counterfeits. At best, you’ll look like a Scrooge. At worst, you may be helping finance drug traffickers or terrorists.

9. Pickpockets:

Keep your purse or wallet secure when shopping. Don’t get overburdened or put shopping bags down, even for a moment. Thieves are watching!

8. Stolen gift cards:

Buy gift cards only from reputable dealers, not online or from individuals. It’s easy for a scammer to sell you the card and then pull off the funds before you can even give the gift.

7. Fake coupons:

Be cautious when downloading coupons. Always make sure you are at a retailer’s real website. Be especially careful with coupon sites that ask for personal information.

6. Santa scammers:

What could be jollier than a letter from Santa addressed directly to your child? Make sure the site is real and not gathering your data for identity theft purposes.

5. Fake charities:

Charities count on end-of-the-year giving, so be generous if you can. But be careful, too, because scammers set up fake charities with similar sounding names.

4. Bogus websites:

It’s easy to mimic a real website, with logos and terminology. Red flags: “http” (not the more secure “https”), no contact information, asking for payment by wire or money card.

3. Travel scams:

With busy holiday travel, bargains may be tempting. Be cautious when booking through online ads, never wire money to someone you don’t know and ask for references.

2. Romance scams:

Everyone wants a special someone under the mistletoe, so holidays are prime time for scams. Be careful with an online sweetheart who gets cozy too fast or asks for money.

1. Puppy scams:

Be very careful buying pets online, especially during the holidays. You may get a puppy mill pooch with problems, or you may get nothing at all because it was a scam.

Officials are also warning that some retail apps that look real and use real store names could be fake.

The goal of the scammers, they say, is to take advantage of the holiday shopping season and steal personal information.

The BBB says the scam has impersonated Apple store apps for well-known retailers, like Dollar Tree, Nordstrom and Zappos.

Some of the apps steal banking and credit card information; others lock the phone and demand ransom to unlock it.

Another concern is that some apps require users to log in through social media, exposing personal information there.

The BBB reports that Apple is actively removing these apps, but developers simply build new ones.

“Look at certain things on the app, things like misspelled words or how neat does it look,” said Tim Maniscalo with the Better Business Bureau. “Good companies will have a very professional looking app, and the other ones may not necessarily be all that professional looking.”

The BBB offers some tips to protect personal information:

Read the fine print in the app store, especially the reviews
Get the app through the retailer’s web site
Freeze your credit
If you are aware of an impostor app, report it to the Better Business Bureau’s scam tracker.

If you are a victim, the BBB says to say call your financial institutions immediately.

sources: WHNT / BBB 1 / BBB2