Montana Office of Consumer Protection

The holidays are right around the corner, and with them come the ever present charity scams that can ruin the sentiment.

The Montana Department of Justice's Office of Consumer Protection says a recent data breach of Equifax, one of the financial industry's three top credit reporting agencies, has put the personal information of over 143,000 million Americans, and 368,000 Montanans at risk.

You may have heard of online 'phishing' expeditions, but now there's a new scam targeting businesses called 'spear phishing.'

To get updates on the latest scams affecting Montanans, sign up for free Consumer Alerts through the Montana Office of Consumer Protection.