Scammers have a new way of ripping people off this year. If you're not mindful of it, it could literally cost you. Gift cards have always been fairly popular, but this year, they seem to be more popular than ever. According to the online fraud prevention company, Bolster, thieves have been hard at work setting up bogus 'gift card balance' checking websites designed to siphon money away from unsuspecting consumers.
Here's' how it works:
You get a gift card for Christmas and put it in a drawer for a few weeks or even months. Eventually, you find it, but by now, you can't remember if you spent some of the money that was on the card. So you're not at all sure how much money is left. You go online and do some searching, which brings up a link to a site promising to give you your gift card balance in just a few clicks.
You surf to the page, enter in your card number and instead of giving you your balance information. (usually you'll get a timeout message, but some are more sophisticated than that), it will send the gift card number to a command and control server so the hackers can steal it. They use it to order goodies for themselves, either to keep or resell.
It's low, but it's an easy scam to pull off, and even relatively unsophisticated criminals can manage it, so expect to see lots of bogus balance checking sites this year.
While Target seems to be the retailer that the scammers are most focused on this year, Bolster has spotted a number of other fake balance checking sites targeting companies like:
- Bath and Body Works
- Forever 21
- Amazon
- The Google Play Store
- And HBO
Just be aware that the scam exists, and be mindful of where you go on the web when you check your gift card balances.
Does your company offer gift cards? Could your company be suspect to this kind of fraud? Visit https://www.spartantec.com/darkweb for a dark web scan of your companies credentials.
Digital credentials such as usernames and passwords connect you and your employees to critical business applications, as well as online services. Unfortunately, criminals know this — and that’s why digital credentials are among the most valuable assets found on the Dark Web.
SpartanTec, Inc.
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
843-418-4792
manageditservicesmyrtlebeach.com
