As the calendar dates for Christmas and Hanukkah quickly approach, scam artists are looking to take advantage of consumer shopping anxiety to make illicit gains. Your local Better Business Bureau is warning consumers of a new string of phishing e-mails making the rounds this holiday season. Scammers are posing as well-known companies that do a lot of business this time of year, attempting to steal personal information such as Social Security or credit card numbers.
“While most of the country is promoting peace and love this holiday season, criminals are spreading computer viruses and stealing identities,” said Tim Burns, Public Affairs Director of the Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern Michigan. “Hackers pose as trusted businesses to take advantage of the seasonal increase in online shopping and shipping. They utilize holiday themed messages to lure people into online scams and frauds”
The BBB has spotted a recent trend of phishing scams aimed at people celebrating the holiday season. Beware of these phishing scams that are circulating the Internet:
Fake Shipping NoticesClaiming to be from a legitimate shipping business such as FedEx or UPS, one phishing e-mail alleges a problem with delivery. It may include a link to a Web site that installs malware or solicits personal information. A recent message has a subject line of “Subject: Tracking Number 13040065504.” It advises, “To take your package back you should print the copy of invoice that is in the added file.” Beware; the attachment is a computer virus that allows hackers to gain access to your computer to look for credit card numbers, financial information, and passwords to assist them with identity theft.
BBB ADVICE: Don’t click on a link in the e-mail; instead go directly to the shipper’s Web site or call the business (do not use a phone number provided in the e-mail) to ask if there is a shipping problem. Don’t open attachments in unsolicited e-mails. If you need assistance validating a business’ phone number or contact information, call your local Better Business Bureau at (248) 644 – 9100 or visit
www.bbb.org.
Surveys offering holiday spending cashTargeting cash-strapped holiday shoppers, other phishing e-mails pretend to be from retailers such as Wal-Mart. One has the subject, “Online Survey from Wal-Mart Stores!!!” The message says, “You’ve been selected to take part in our quick and easy 9 questions survey. In return we will credit $90.00 to your account - Just for your time!” The e-mail includes a link to a Web site to “take the survey,” but actually leads to a phishing site.
BBB ADVICE: Don’t respond to unsolicited e-mails promising money for answering surveys. E-mails offering big rewards for minimal effort usually cost you in the end.
E-cardsE-cards are a popular and inexpensive way to deliver season’s greetings. Legitimate e-cards typically send an e-mail with a hyperlink to a Web site hosting the e-card. Unfortunately, it's easy for hackers to disguise their phishing e-mails and direct users to Web sites that install viruses and malware.
BBB ADVICE: Phishing e-mails posing as e-cards can be difficult to spot. Be wary of
e-mails with spelling and grammatical mistakes and don’t follow links in an e-card if you don’t recognize the sender.
Consumers should report suspicious e-mails to the Internet Crime Complaint Center at
www.ic3.gov. For additional information and advice you can trust to stay safe this holiday season, start with
www.bbb.org.
About Phishing"Phishing" is a term coined by computer hackers, who use email to fish the Internet hoping to hook you into giving them your logins, passwords and/or credit card information. In all these scams, the phisher first impersonates a legitimate company such as your own internet service provider, your electric company or a financial institution. In the typical scam, you'll get an email that appears to be from a reputable company. You'll be asked to go to a special site to update your account information. The web site may download a computer virus or program, called malware, which allows identity thieves to access your computer and steal information. Or the web site may trick you into providing sensitive personal or financial information (Social Security Numbers, Credit Card Numbers, and Bank Account Passwords) that can be used for identity theft fraud.
About BBB Serving Eastern MichiganThe Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern Michigan (
www.bbb.org) is a non-profit organization with the purpose of promoting TRUST and ethical business practices in the local marketplace. In addition to its recognized dispute resolution services, the Bureau maintains reliability reports on the customer service history of more than 80,000 local businesses and provides consumer education materials on numerous topics. The BBB provides its services free to the public and its service territory stretches across Eastern Michigan from Ann Arbor through Metropolitan Detroit, Lansing, Flint, upward to Alpena, and covers the entire Upper Peninsula of the state.
