 TITLE: 1 in 4 Americans Report Falling Victim to Fraud During the Holidays CONTENT: Nearly 1 in 5 Have Experienced Pandemic-Related Scams\n-----------------------------------------------------\nOn top of the expected identity theft issues, 18% of Americans said they fell victim to fraud related to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Experian's survey. Since the onset of the outbreak, numerous COVID-19 related scams have popped up, including fake COVID-19 testing, stimulus payment theft and more.\nOver half of respondents—57%—say they believe there is a greater risk of fraud this year due to the increase in online shopping brought on by COVID-19. Still, the risk of infection will continue to drive people to shop from home instead of doing so in person, despite worry of possible fraud.\nA total of 62% of Americans say they plan to shop more online this year due to the pandemic compared with last year. The share of people who plan to shop in-store dropped from 52% in 2019 to 43% in 2020. END