Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto is warning last minute shoppers to beware of scammers, including identity thieves, fake charitable donations and text message scams.
"Criminals will take advantage of those with generous hearts and good will this holiday season," she said.
Masto said the latest sophisticated scams involve sending text messages supposedly from the recipient's bank informing them their debit card is locked. The victim is asked to reply and give out their card number or even a social security number. She said the text is a scam and any information given will be used to clean out the victim's bank account.
Her office warns never to give out personal or financial information over the phone, review all financial statements for unusual activity and contact the company if anything lookssuspicious.
She said credit card statements, bills, insurance papers and bank statements should be destroyed before they are thrown out. People are warned to protect their Social Security number and be wary of anyone calling to confirm personal or financial information. Memorize passwords and PIN numbers and don't write them down on something kept with the card itself. Keep a list of credit card numbers in case they are lost or stolen.
For more information about identity theft, go on line at http://bit.ly.NVIdentityTheft.