If you’re like many shoppers after the start of the holiday shopping season, you probably have several items on the way. That’s why you need to be extra careful of scams targeting those waiting for deliveries. Tap or click here to see an example of a scam delivery notice. The 2020 holiday shopping season could be one of the worst ever for cybercrime. If you want to protect yourself, here’s what you need to do.
If any of these notifications arrive on your phone, delete them
SMS phishing (also known as “smishing”) and delivery scams have grown to epidemic proportions this year, and the problem looks like it will only get worse if the breakneck pace of online holiday shopping continues. The texts include urgent-sounding language about your account’s status or online order, and clicking the link they contain will take you to a malicious website. Some versions of the scam rely on emails instead of text messages to lure victims. If you enter personal or financial information on one of these sites, that data is sent to the scammers running the operation. Some scammers will actually call you by your first name or reference your address to disguise themselves further. This information usually comes from data breaches and leaks. Tap or click here to see if your personal information is being bought or sold because of a data breach.
Watch for these red flags
If you’re expecting real delivery updates for your online orders, it can be easy to get fooled by one of these scams. To prevent yourself from falling for phishing attacks, look for the following red flags:
I fell for one of these scams! What can I do?
If you shared information with a scammer by mistake, you still have some options to protect yourself. But you must act quickly, or you could be at risk of losing money, data and potentially your identity.
If you gave a scammer payment information like a credit card number or bank account, call your bank or card issuer to let them know you’re at risk for fraud. Ask them to mail you a new card and request that your old one is canceled. You can also ask that your account be monitored for fraud.If you already lost money, tell your bank or card issuer you were defrauded. Ask if there are any fraud recovery options. Some financial institutions may be able to recover your lost money if you act fast enough.Change any passwords you use for banking apps and set up two-factor authentication to prevent unauthorized logins. Tap or click here to see how to activate 2FA for your bank apps.Check HaveIBeenPwned.com to see if any of your data has been stolen. Change the passwords for any compromised accounts.
These scams keep happening over and over again because they’re effective. Half the time, victims don’t even know they’re getting tricked until they see the money drain from their bank account. For the good of your wallet, delete these texts!
