Morgan Stanley has outlined several common scams everyone should be on the lookout for during the holiday season. The first involves phony delivery notifications. These scams are common year-round, but they’re particularly relevant during the holidays.
“A popular scam involves receiving a text or email that asks you to click on a link for a number of phony reasons, such as to get an update about the delivery date, track the package location, give your payment preferences, provide delivery instructions or pay a shipping fee,” Morgan Stanley says. “You may also be given a phone number to call for more information about your delivery. Since fraudsters want you to act without thinking, they may convey a sense of urgency in their message. While some of these communications are obviously fraudulent—perhaps containing multiple misspellings or other errors—many are carefully crafted, even replicating a shipping company’s logo or email format in some cases.”
Morgan Stanley also describes “brushing,” which is a way for scammers or dishonest sellers to boost their products with phony positive reviews.
“You’ll receive a package you didn’t order bought from an online marketplace that allows customers to post reviews of their purchase,” Morgan Stanley says. “The item is typically cheap and lightweight. Since it’s the holiday season, you might think it’s just a gift from a stranger looking to pay it forward. In reality, it’s likely from someone who sells products on online marketplaces who wants to create fake, positive reviews. But, in order to post a review, the marketplace requires that a transaction be verified with a legitimate tracking number that shows a successful delivery. And that’s where your mystery package comes into play. That purchase creates a tracking number. So, after the package is delivered, your fake gift giver can write the review.”
New-school security awareness training can enable your employees to recognize these types of scams.
Morgan Stanley has the story.
