Phishing Scams Tailored for the 2018 Holiday Season

“I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did Bought”

[Editor’s Note:  The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway (“Berkshire”), or any other entity referenced. Edina Realty is a subsidiary of Berkshire.]

One of the scariest horror movies of the ’60’s was about about two, bored teenage girls who pass a Saturday night making crank phone calls to amuse themselves.

Their m.o.: when randomly selected strangers answer, the girls ominously intone, “I know who you are and saw what you did.”

Unbeknownst to the girls, one of their targets is a man who just committed murder; he traces their phone call, and tracks them down.

I still remember the movie’s climactic scene 50 years later.

Cue 2018 Holiday Shopping Season

What’s that got to do with phishing scams this holiday season?

Scammers know that the average American now spends something like $1,500 a year online annually — a good chunk of it in the next week few weeks.

Included in that group:  yours truly. 

Having just bought a fleece jacket online from a national retailer for $49.99 (regular price: $120) — and given a “heads up” by my son that the publicized sales price and the actual invoice amount just might be different (guess which one was likely to be higher?) — I was already on alert.

So, when I received an email saying “online order confirmation” for $59.99, not $49.99 . . . I immediately pounced.

I opened the email, saw the button labeled, “contact vendor,” and clicked.

Gotcha!!

I’d just been phished . . . and I bit.

Fortunately, Edina Realty’s Tech Department (my frantic next call) immediately assured me that the scammer was known to them, and that clicking on their link resulted in no bad consequences (which begs the question, “exactly what are they up to?”).

Tech’s advice: “delete the email . . . and don’t get suckered again” (my paraphrase).

Done, and done . . .

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