With people distracted and busy this holiday season, bad guys are taking advantage by pretending to be familiar retailers with questions or concerns related to online orders. Don’t let your guard down, even if they threaten to stop delivery. 

HOW IT WORKS

Someone will call, text or email claiming to be from one of the biggest names in retail and telling you there is a problem you need to address. They may use a number of tactics:

• A problem with your recent order or your order was canceled
• Payment failed
• Delivery issues
• They detected a fraudulent purchase on your account and need information to cancel the purchase

When they have your attention, they’ll ask for information, such as user names, addresses, account numbers, credit card numbers – all to “help” solve the problem. If it’s an email or text, it will include a phone number or a link to a site where you can provide information.

Bad guys know that by scaring you and causing an emotional reaction you’re more likely to get flustered and do what they want. Making you feel like your gifts won’t arrive in time is one way they do that.

What To Do

If the order or account doesn’t sound familiar, hang up immediately or delete the email or text.

If the order does sound familiar, stop and give yourself time to think. Don’t provide any information to a caller.  Don’t call a phone number or go to a website link they provided in a text or email.

If you are concerned about your account or a legitimate order, contact the retailer’s customer support channels using information you can find on their official websites.

More Information

We put together some tips to help you protect yourself from similar scams.

Also, there are tools that can help. For example, a call blocking service like the free AT&T Call Protect app can help alert you if the call is a potential scam.