The Better Business Bureau is
warning online holiday shoppers to watch out for phishing scams that are
hitting area email boxes disguised as emails from popular retailers.
The links contained in the emails have the potential to cause viruses to
be installed on the user’s computer.
BBB has received several calls this week from Kentucky residents who
report getting the bogus emails using the Costco name. Online
technology news sources also report other stores’ names being used in
the emails, like Home Depot, Walmart and Target.
“With Cyber Monday just past, and many people ordering holiday gifts
from Internet sites, it would be easy for someone to believe that an
email appearing to be from a retailer is the real deal,” Jack Frank,
BBB president and CEO said. “The con artists know this and are taking
advantage of that by trying to either steal information, or installing a
virus on their computer.”
BBB advises consumers who receive a suspicious email that appears to be
from a legitimate retailer to place their cursor over the link in the
email, without clicking on it. A box will appear showing the true
source of the link. Consumers that have reported the scam to the BBB
stated that when they click on the link, it takes them to a completely
different website.
