Consumer Alerts

Scams in the name of charity

Scammers are creative, cunning and cruel — and they often mix in a little truth to spice up their big lies. This scheme shows just how low they can go.

Government imposters claiming to be with the FTC, or another agency like the fictitious “Consumer Protection Agency,” are calling to inform people they have won a huge sweepstakes from the Make-a-Wish Foundation, a well-known charity for very sick children. To get the money, the callers say, the “winner” must first pay thousands of dollars to cover taxes or insurance on the prize. The call may even come from a 202 (Washington, DC) area code to appear credible — since the headquarters for the FTC and most federal agencies are in DC.

This is just a scheme using the well-known names of Make-a-Wish and the FTC to rob thousands of dollars from people. Once you wire money or send banking information, you will never see your money again.

Here are a few facts and tips to protect yourself and others:

If someone asks you to wire money or provide your bank account information over the telephone, it’s a scam.
Anytime you have to pay to get a prize, it’s a scam.
The FTC doesn’t oversee sweepstakes and no FTC staff is involved in giving out sweepstakes prizes. We do, however, go after sweepstakes scams.
If an FTC case results in refunds, you can find the details at ftc.gov/redress.
The Make-a-Wish Foundation has information about this specific scam on its fraud alerts page.
If you encounter this or other scams, report it to the FTC at 1-877-FTC-HELP or ftc.gov/complaint.
Talk to your friends and family about scams. Visit FTC.gov/PassItOn to find out how.

Lisa Lake
Consumer Education Specialist
Federal Trade Commission

Possible Skimming Devices Reported at Plymouth Wal-Mart

PLYMOUTH (CBS) – Police are investigating possible skimming devices at a Wal-Mart store in Plymouth.

Officers learned that suspects had been seen tampering with card readers at cash registers.

“We are still investigating, but we believe they were removing skimmers from card readers,” Plymouth Police said.

Though Plymouth Police said no victims had come forward, they added that people might seeing that their cards had been tampered with when they check their accounts.

Leslee Wright Senior Manager, corporate communications, said in a statement that the company will be taking additional steps to make sure customers’ bank accounts don’t become compromised.

We have no tolerance for crime against our customers or our associates. As soon as we heard about possible fraud in our store, we took action to protect our customers. We’re working with police to and taking additional steps to help ensure our customers’ transactions are safe, including daily register inspections.

Beware of Fake Amazon.com Scam

This is an important message regarding potentially harmful scam. Cyber criminals are targeting Amazon.com users with a phishing campaign that falsely claims a small number of accounts have been hacked. The email starts with an “Important Notice” and you are required to “verify” your Amazon account by providing payment card information and security details. The email threatens that if you do not comply with the verification process, restrictions may be placed on your account.

The email is a scam to try to trick you into revealing sensitive information.

If you see an email like this that has not been caught by any spam filter, delete it.

You may also receive fake shipping notices asking you to “click to cancel your order” or “click to contact customer service”.

Likewise, delete shipping notice fakes as well.

Important Notice Regarding QuickTime

We’re putting the word out that everyone should follow Apple’s guidance and uninstall QuickTime for Windows as soon as possible.

This is for two reasons.

First, Apple has ended support for QuickTime for Microsoft Windows. They will no longer be issuing security updates for the product on the Windows Platform and recommend users uninstall it. Note that this does not apply to QuickTime on Mac OSX.

Second, Zero Day Initiative has just released two advisories ZDI-16-241 and ZDI-16-242 detailing two new, critical vulnerabilities affecting QuickTime for Windows. These advisories are being released in accordance with the Zero Day Initiative’s Disclosure Policy for when a vendor does not issue a security patch for a disclosed vulnerability. And because Apple is no longer providing security updates for QuickTime on Windows, these vulnerabilities are never going to be patched.

We’re not aware of any active attacks against these vulnerabilities currently. But the only way to protect your Windows systems from potential attacks against these or other vulnerabilities in Apple QuickTime is to uninstall it.

ATM Skimming Devices Are Still a Big Problem

Earlier this month an alarming figure emerged from FICO that indicated ATM skimming was up 546% when comparing 2014 to 2015. In light of these figures Coastal Heritage Bank wanted to pass along some tips that can help keep your debit card out of the hands of counterfeiters.

Eye Check. Always check the ATM for any physical irregularities. This can be colors that don’t quite match between the rest of the ATM or on screen graphics that are not properly aligned with buttons. In most cases the card reader and keyboard should be firmly attached. If you can move them easily this is an indication that either a keyboard or card reader overlay has been placed on the ATM.
Location. According to the report 60% of the skimming incidents occurred at non-bank ATMs. A simple way to help mitigate your risk is only use ATMs that are on Bank property.

atm-skimming
(Example of a keyboard overlay designed to steal debit card PIN Numbers)

TurboTax Phishing Scam

Please be aware that there is presently a massive phishing scam that appears to come from TurboTax. An email encourages you to click on an embedded link to “opt out” of sharing your personal information with others.

The email is a scam. If you click on the link it will download keylogger malware which will steal your personal information from your computer or phone.

Always remember the following online safety tips:

Always have your Internet Security software updated, but do not rely on it.
Keep all of your software up to date with the latest patches, computer and phone.
Never click on links in emails or text messages unless you are sure it’s from a trusted contact or source. For instance, if you want to go to TurboTax, visit their website directly by typing their address in
your browser.
Think Before You Click! Always take a moment to ask yourself if this might be a scam.

Phishing is the attempt to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and sometimes, indirectly, money), often for malicious reasons, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

A keylogger is a type of surveillance software (considered to be either software or spyware) that has the capability to record every keystroke you make to a log file, usually encrypted. A keylogger recorder can record instant messages, e-mail, and any information you type at any time using your keyboard.

“Malware” is short for “malicious software” – computer programs designed to infiltrate and damage computers without the users consent. “Malware” is the general term covering all the different types of threats to your computer safety such as viruses, spyware, worms, Trojans, rootkits and so on.