TULSA, Okla. — With less than 100 days until Christmas, decorations are going up in the stores already, telling us the holiday shopping season is already here.
But scammers will be shopping around, too, to find victims caught up in the rush.
The word is out.
Amazon Prime Days are only a couple of weeks away.
So, security experts want to get this word out.
Beware of scams and schemes to steal your money, even your identity.
Ginny, from Broken Arrow, tells us she received an email that warned her Prime membership had expired.
It says they tried to renew it, but her payment method failed, and she had one last chance to renew; it just takes one click, the email said.
It also gave an expiration date in big red print.
“I clicked on it,” Ginney says. “I’m planning on buying a lot of items during the big sales days coming up. I ended up getting charged $500 on a credit card. I got sick to my stomach, but my credit card company was able to reverse the transaction. Thank goodness,” she says.
Consumer tech expert Jennifer Jolly, from Techish.com, says scammers use a sense of urgency to score big bucks for themselves.
And they usually target folks during the craziest time of the day.
“They’re trying to get you to reveal personal information when you’re the most susceptible. Things like banking details, social security numbers, passwords, or even just to get you in a busy time where you click on a site or link that puts malware or ransomware on your device.”
Of course, many online sellers are running sales and specials, especially this time of year.
Cybercrooks can certainly attack there, as well.
So experts say never respond to or click on any links or attachments in emails or texts you receive out of the blue.
And never call a number you receive in those messages.
If you need to get a hold of a company, look up its official phone number and call that way.
Contact the Problem Solvers:
- 918-748-1502
- problemsolvers@kjrh.com
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