Expert Tips to Avoid Online Shopping Fraud - Holiday Scams 2025 - Fox 9
The short version: A Fox 9 segment on holiday shopping scams is a reminder that the same leaky data ecosystem fueling fraud also feeds plate-reader and surveillance networks.
Our Take
Fox 9's interview with Privacy Bee's CEO hits the usual holiday-scam beats — phishing sites, fake storefronts, account takeovers — and the advice is sound as far as it goes: lock down your digital footprint before criminals exploit it. Credit to Privacy Bee and Fox 9 for putting consumer data exposure in front of a mainstream audience, even if the segment is really a pitch for a paid privacy-scrubbing service.
What the piece doesn't say, because it's not the topic, is that the data pipelines behind scam targeting and the data pipelines behind automated surveillance are built from the same raw material. Data brokers, leaked databases, and location trails don't just end up in a scammer's spreadsheet — they end up feeding risk scores, retail analytics, and yes, networks of license plate readers that quietly log where you drive every day. The lesson about 'reducing your digital footprint' applies just as much to the Flock Safety camera on your street corner as it does to a sketchy checkout page.
If you're already thinking about what data trails you're leaving behind this shopping season, it's worth checking our map to see if ALPR cameras are logging your commute too, and visiting take action for concrete ways to push back on surveillance infrastructure your city council may never have asked you about.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Privacy Bee, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.