BALTIMORE — While you wait for your packages to be delivered, scammers are sending texts or emails about your orders.
Bill Sieglein, a cybersecurity expert, said it’s easy bait for all holiday shoppers.
“They’re really hard to verify because you’re expecting packages, it’s this time of year,” added Sieglein.
It comes as a text or email alerting you to an issue or delivery update involving your package.
“Looks like it comes from Amazon or UPS or U.S. Postal Service and it’s what’s called a shrunken link, it’s just like a bit.ly or something like that so you can’t see the full string,” Sieglein said.
When unsuspecting shoppers click on it, they’re asked to log into their account.
“What they do is collect your user ID and password for Amazon and then actually pass you on to Amazon,” said Sieglein. “So now, they’ve got your data, you have no idea they stole it because you’re at the Amazon website and it’s fine.”
This information enables fraudsters to take over accounts.
“What they’ll do is go in and change a lot of items on your account including where things will be mailed to and the email address, so you won’t even know. They get all the alerts so when you go in to change your password, they get an alert on their phone usually like a verification code or something so you can’t go through the process of changing your own password. They’ve really taken over your account,” Seiglein said.
Or they try to steal your identity.
These clever schemes end up costing consumers, but Angie Barnett with the Better Business Bureau serving greater Maryland said there’s an easy way to avoid these scams.
“Just set-up a spreadsheet, cut paste the tracking information, the product that you ordered, who you ordered it from,” Barnett recommended.
If shoppers get a notice about their package, they can verify it’s on their list. And ask friends and family to give a heads up about any incoming deliveries.
“I don’t want to know what’s in it, but let me know how it’s going to be delivered so I don’t inadvertently open up a text and click on that link,” said Barnett.
Another easy way to check is to go directly to the shipper’s site. Never click unsolicited links in text or email.