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scam of the day - Charon - 12-07-2023
Scam of the day – December 7, 2023 – Bank Text Message Scams
Steven Weisman, Esq.
Dec 6
Phony text messaging, called smishing, which purport to be from your bank is a scam about which I have been warning you for years, but appears to be a scam that is dramatically increasing. Recently, I received a text message that appeared to come from Citizens Bank which read "Account on hold: Reason unverifiable profile. Please update your profile below immediately to avoid blockage." A link then appeared in the text message that had no obvious connection to Citizens Bank.
Phony text messages like this can be particularly problematic if you have signed up to receive text message alerts from your bank. Whenever you receive a text message you can never be sure who is really sending it to you, so you should never call a telephone number indicated in the text message, provide information or click on links in such text messages which may either download ransomware malware on to your phone or keystroke logging malware that can lead to your becoming a victim of identity theft.
Recently, Arvest Bank in Arkansas issued a warning to its customers about phony text messages that appear to come from the bank where people were lured to click on a link and provide personal information about their account and while this warning came from Arvest, this scam is done throughout the country targeting customers of every bank.
The best course of action when you receive such a text message, if you have a concern that it may be legitimate, is to merely independently contact your bank to determine whether or not the text message was a scam, but be careful that you do not misdial the telephone number of your bank as some scammers purchase phone numbers similar to those of legitimate banks and credit card companies hoping that they will receive calls from unwary consumers who may have merely misdialed the telephone number of their bank or credit card company.
TIPS
Regardless of how official such a text message may appear, you should never provide personal information to anyone in response to a telephone call, email or text message because in none of those situations can you be sure that the person contacting you is legitimate. If you do receive a communication from a bank, government agency or any other person or entity that you think might have a legitimate need for personal information from you, you should call the real entity at a telephone number that you know is legitimate in order to ascertain the truth.
Banks do not call, text or email their customers asking for personal information. You should always be skeptical of anyone asking for such information. Of course, if you receive a text message that appears to come from a bank at which you do not have an account, you can be confident it is a scam. If the text message provides for you to respond to stop future texts, don't do it. Sending such a message to a scammer merely alerts them to the fact that yours is an active phone number.
Finally, although today's Scam of the day focuses on phony bank text messages, it is a good idea to sign up to receive text alerts from your bank which can be customized for your own particular needs. In regard to the text message that I received, a close examination of the sender would indicate that it came from "Citizen Bank" rather than "Citizens Bank" which is the name of the legitimate bank (and not one at which I have an account.)
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive free daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and insert your email address where it indicates "Sign up for this blog."
RE: scam of the day - Charon - 12-08-2023
And another. My bank had me get a new card months and months ago. they noted suspicious activity.
But i got hacked the other day. All day long. my bank acct was fine then.
yesterday i noticed that some rat bastard hacked me and stole my bank monies.
Watch your accounts. I check constantly but with this, i saw no place that took out money. it was just all gone. i am way too depressed to think how they did this. But i assume it was when i was hacked a week or so ago. totally. my old account may have been brought up and some cocksucker stole my entire months social security check.
its not christian but i hope they die horribly.
RE: scam of the day - IceWizard - 04-11-2024
Have you received a package you didn’t order?
Brushing scams are on the rise nowadays.
We explain what these scams are and how you can avoid them or protect yourself
from falling prey to them.
We normally do not receive packages we didn’t order. But it is the time of privacy and data leaks
where we cannot know what kind of data is available online. Bad actors get hold of such data and
use our information for their scams. One such scam is the brushing scam.
Let’s know more about it.
What is a Brushing Scam?
Have you ever received a product or package that you didn’t order and wondered who sent it?
Your friends or family might send gifts on special days, but these days, such unknown packages
are part of online scams.
The entire digital world is dependent on reviews and ratings. Sellers on e-commerce platforms
focus more on getting positive reviews and increasing the rating of their products to improve
ranking and sales on the platforms. The sellers send inexpensive items in the package to different
addresses they acquired through illegal sources. The package delivered to you is considered a
sale from their store on the e-commerce platform. Writing a review of a product you never
ordered sticks as a verified purchase. The entire act of sending packages with inexpensive items,
rating on their names, and reviewing the products on e-commerce product pages is called Brushing Scam.
Sellers boost their ratings with such fraud means and increase their sales, thanks to fake verified
purchase reviews. You might have observed the “Verified Purchase” tag in the reviews of products
listed on Amazon. When you receive such a package, you become a verified purchaser, and the
sellers write reviews in your name.
The brushing scams have been on the rise and have gone to the next level with the easily
available data of thousands of people.
They only need a few positive reviews to increase sales on the platforms.
How does Brushing Scam work?
A brushing scam involves the following acts:
What are the risks of Brushing Scam?
The brushing scam may appear as a no-harm act. But the scam works entirely on
identity theft that is used to write a fake review. We might feel that you have got an
item for free in the package, but little did we know that our information, along with
our residence address or office address, is out with someone whom we don’t know.
We do not know how they got your information.
Your entire personal privacy is compromised.
Someone may use your address for illegal activities.
Also, a fake review on your name might induce people to buy products with fake reviews.
What to do if I receive a package that I didn’t order?
If you receive a package that you didn’t order, you need to do the following things:
Contact the marketplace:
Every marketplace or e-commerce platform has customer support helplines
where you can report the package.
They will investigate the matter and prevent the scam from happening again.
Do not accept the package:
Do not accept the package or pay any money for the package.
Simply ask the delivery guy to return it to the seller.
Report the fraud to the Federal Trade Commission:
Report the identity theft to the FTC so they can take action and
prevent future frauds that may happen.
Protect your accounts:
It is not possible to know exactly what kind of information of yours is leaked.
You need to protect your accounts by changing the passwords
and enabling two-factor authentication.
Monitor your bank accounts:
Monitor your bank accounts and credit cards for a few months as the details
might have been compromised.
Report any fraudulent transactions to the bank and authorities.
Why did I receive an Amazon package that I didn’t order?
If you have received an Amazon package you did not order,
check if the package was delivered as a gift from your family and friends.
If it is not a gift, check your order history on Amazon.
If you do not find it, report it to Amazon via customer care and
give all the information you have on the package to them.
They will take action against the seller and ban them from the marketplace.
Do not pay for such packages in the first place.
Brushing scams are on the rise nowadays.
We explain what these scams are and how you can avoid them or protect yourself
from falling prey to them.
We normally do not receive packages we didn’t order. But it is the time of privacy and data leaks
where we cannot know what kind of data is available online. Bad actors get hold of such data and
use our information for their scams. One such scam is the brushing scam.
Let’s know more about it.
What is a Brushing Scam?
Have you ever received a product or package that you didn’t order and wondered who sent it?
Your friends or family might send gifts on special days, but these days, such unknown packages
are part of online scams.
The entire digital world is dependent on reviews and ratings. Sellers on e-commerce platforms
focus more on getting positive reviews and increasing the rating of their products to improve
ranking and sales on the platforms. The sellers send inexpensive items in the package to different
addresses they acquired through illegal sources. The package delivered to you is considered a
sale from their store on the e-commerce platform. Writing a review of a product you never
ordered sticks as a verified purchase. The entire act of sending packages with inexpensive items,
rating on their names, and reviewing the products on e-commerce product pages is called Brushing Scam.
Sellers boost their ratings with such fraud means and increase their sales, thanks to fake verified
purchase reviews. You might have observed the “Verified Purchase” tag in the reviews of products
listed on Amazon. When you receive such a package, you become a verified purchaser, and the
sellers write reviews in your name.
The brushing scams have been on the rise and have gone to the next level with the easily
available data of thousands of people.
They only need a few positive reviews to increase sales on the platforms.
How does Brushing Scam work?
A brushing scam involves the following acts:
- Get personal information of people from illegal means
- Create accounts using such information on their names
- Send inexpensive items to the addresses from their newly created accounts
- Post fake reviews under the product page after successful delivery
- Repeat the process with other people
What are the risks of Brushing Scam?
The brushing scam may appear as a no-harm act. But the scam works entirely on
identity theft that is used to write a fake review. We might feel that you have got an
item for free in the package, but little did we know that our information, along with
our residence address or office address, is out with someone whom we don’t know.
We do not know how they got your information.
Your entire personal privacy is compromised.
Someone may use your address for illegal activities.
Also, a fake review on your name might induce people to buy products with fake reviews.
What to do if I receive a package that I didn’t order?
If you receive a package that you didn’t order, you need to do the following things:
Contact the marketplace:
Every marketplace or e-commerce platform has customer support helplines
where you can report the package.
They will investigate the matter and prevent the scam from happening again.
Do not accept the package:
Do not accept the package or pay any money for the package.
Simply ask the delivery guy to return it to the seller.
Report the fraud to the Federal Trade Commission:
Report the identity theft to the FTC so they can take action and
prevent future frauds that may happen.
Protect your accounts:
It is not possible to know exactly what kind of information of yours is leaked.
You need to protect your accounts by changing the passwords
and enabling two-factor authentication.
Monitor your bank accounts:
Monitor your bank accounts and credit cards for a few months as the details
might have been compromised.
Report any fraudulent transactions to the bank and authorities.
Why did I receive an Amazon package that I didn’t order?
If you have received an Amazon package you did not order,
check if the package was delivered as a gift from your family and friends.
If it is not a gift, check your order history on Amazon.
If you do not find it, report it to Amazon via customer care and
give all the information you have on the package to them.
They will take action against the seller and ban them from the marketplace.
Do not pay for such packages in the first place.
RE: scam of the day - IceWizard - 05-04-2024
BUMP
RE: scam of the day - Charon - 05-04-2024
now is the time for vigilance beyond vigilance.