Thursday, April 20, 2023 – Beware fake purchase receipts that arrive in your email – Scam alert: Ignore this very irritating Messenger hoax

Beware fake purchase receipts that arrive in your email

The scammers of the world are getting slicker by the day. It seems like they’re always coming up with some new innovative way to separate innocent people from their money.

There’s a particularly nasty email scam making the rounds right now that arrives in the form of a fake purchase receipt.

In a nutshell, the potential victim receives an email that appears to be a receipt for a purchase they have made. The “purchases” listed in the receipts vary widely, but most of them are for antivirus software renewals or a renewal for some other digital subscription.

These fake receipts can also be for Amazon purchases, Best Buy purchases, or purchases from most any nationally recognized retailer.

Regardless of the service or item mentioned in the email, the pitch is usually something like this:

“If you didn’t actually intend to pay $299 for this three-year McAfee Antivirus renewal or $1295 for this new laptop you can easily cancel by calling the phone number listed below.“

The thing is, the entire email is a scam, including the potential refund.

Yes, you can call the number they give you and ask to cancel the purchase, but you’ll be asked to confirm your identity by providing some pretty sensitive personal info. And of course in order for them to process your refund you’ll have to give them your credit/debit card number or banking info.

You can probably guess what will happen next. Yep, they’ll use the personal info you gave them to steal your identity. And then to put a bit of icing on the cake, they’ll use the card or banking info you gave them to clean out your account.

Bottom line: If you receive a purchase receipt for an item you didn’t actually buy or a receipt from a company that you haven’t dealt with, rest assured that it’s a scam. Don’t call the phone number in the email and don’t click the “Unsubscribe” link if one is included in the message.

In short, don’t respond to the email in any way. Simply delete it and forget about it.

If you have reason to believe the email might actually be legit (for example, if you did actually just make a purchase at Amazon), it’s still safer to visit the company’s official website and sign into your account. You’ll find all the info about your purchase on there.

The latest from Rick’s Daily Tips Tech Blog…

• Scam alert: Ignore this very irritating Messenger hoax

This one keeps popping up from time to time. And unfortunately, the latest time is right now.

• Q&A: How do I check my gift card balance on Amazon?

This post has instructions for both the web and the app.

• Click here to see today’s ‘Picture of the Day’.

Every morning I post a new photo that I find inspiring, intriguing, or just plain beautiful to look at. Jumpstart your day by checking it out.

Rick’s Daily Pick…

“Microsoft Office 365 – 15 Books in 1”

Looking to master every module of Office 365? If so, you need this incredibly comprehensive suite of tutorials and reference guides.

Today’s post from ‘My Daily Smile’…

11 year old (at the time) Sierra Hull performs at the Grand Ole Opry

Watch a true child prodigy work some magic with her mandolin.

Tech news that caught my eye…

• Google detects second zero-day Chrome exploit just days after patching another bug

• Thieves are using this iPhone setting to lock people out of their Apple accounts

• Netflix delays crackdown on password sharing in the US

• Ransomware gangs abuse Process Explorer driver to kill security software

• Lightroom adds AI denoise to make old photos look like new

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Your tech buddy,

Rick Rouse
https://www.RicksDailyTips.com