Spooky season is here, and I thought I would touch on Halloween Scams today. From phony sales to deceptive websites, scammers are ready to trick instead of treat. Don’t let fraudsters spoil your fun. Look out for fake costume sites, delivery failure notices, and customs clearing text scams that are sure to give you a fright 👻🦇🎃👀.
One new scam out there is the “Free Spirit Halloween Goodie Box” scam. Social media posts claiming to be from Spirit Halloween are offering fans a free box full of animatronics and decorations. All you have to do is fill out a survey and pay $10 for shipping. Sounds amazing, right! Who wouldn’t want all that awesome Spirit merch? And for $10!! That is a steal! Guess what, if it sounds too good to be true it definitely is. In fact, this one is so fake that even Spirit has warned customers about the scam and says they are not behind it. These are phishing scams asking for your name, address, and payment info under the guise of verifying YOU are real. Once you hand all that info over, the scammers have everything they need to take whatever they want. One huge red flag with this scam is that these posts are marked as Spirit Halloween sponsored posts, which is something the company has never done.
Here are a few other spooky scams to avoid this Halloween:
- Fake costume websites: They advertise brand name costumes for cheap, but after you pay IF you get the merchandise it is not what you ordered.
- Phishing emails: Beware of shipping confirmation or order delayed messages for items you never bought.
- Fake event invites: Scammers will promote festivals or haunted house experiences through social media. You pay for tickets to an event that doesn’t exist.
- Malicious QR codes: Never click on a random QR code, there could be a link to phishing pages.
Since we are still in Cybersecurity Awareness Month, here are some tips from our IT Manager, Tate Nance, on how to protect yourself from scary websites! 🦇
💀Beware!
Never shop on a website that doesn’t begin with https:// in the URL or doesn’t have a green padlock. This means if you enter your payment information, it will be transmitted unencrypted (in plaintext) across the internet!
👀 Judge by looks!
Legitimate businesses take pride in their website designs and put a lot of effort into them. If a website doesn’t have polished layouts, has information placed in random spots, or just overall looks sketchy, it is more than likely a fake website that a hacker has thrown together.
👻Unmask the truth!
Use third-party tools to check for the website’s reputation and history. There are many useful online resources to help you determine if a website is legit or not. Here are a few of my favorites:
🧛Don’t get cursed!
Finally, if you are still in doubt, play it safe and move along. It is always better to be safe than sorry!
Stay cybersafe out there, and may your online adventures be more treats than tricks! 🍬🍭🍫
Tara Montgomery
Exchange Bank of Alabama
Fraud Specialist
(256) 691-0328
