SCAMS BULLETIN Host Jay White is a volunteer attorney in San Mateo County, California.

August 31, 2020

FAKE FREE HELP DURING PANDEMIC

Courtesy Federal Trade Commission

During the pandemic many persons need help. Fraudsters take advantage of that need.

Fraudsters send messages through WhatsApp or Facebook purporting to be from Pepsi, Walmart, Whole Foods, Target, and other big-name brands. These messages all offer money to people who need it — through grants, coupons for food support, or other giveaways. But they’re all fake, and not from those companies at all.

You might receive this kind of message, in English or Spanish, from a friend or contact. The message tells you to click a link to get your money. If you click, you might be directed to take a survey. Or they might ask you to enter your name, address, phone number, or other information. And they might ask you to forward the message to several friends to be eligible to collect.

But what these messages are doing is running a phishing scam to collect your information (and your friends’ info), and possibly putting malware on your phone, tablet, or computer if you click the link. There’s no money to be received, and no help to be had. It could have been a real (and hopeful) friend who forwarded that message to you – but it could have been a scammer who hacked your friend’s account.

So: what do you do if you receive one of these messages?

*Don’t click on any links. That could download malware, expose you to even more scams, or add your phone number to lists sold to still other scammers.

*Delete the messages – and certainly don’t share them.

*Call any friend who shared the message. Did they forward it to you? If not, warn them their account might have been hacked.

If you already clicked or shared, run a security scan on your device to see if malware has been installed.

And then tell the FTC: ftc.gov/complaint.

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