Gift Card Scams

A word of warning:  There is an email scam that has been around for around for a while.  It goes something like this...

Your principal allegedly emails you while in a meeting.  They ask you to buy iTunes gift cards to help them out with a project.  When you agree, they talk you into buying one or more $100 cards.  Then they ask you to send them the codes, since they are still in the meeting.  They promise to pay you back when they see you next.

What is really happening is:  (1) it's sent by a random person that just set the text next to their address to be the name of your principal, (2) they're going to sell those codes on eBay for $80 each, (3) they have no intention of paying you back.  Since the schools' principals are listed on our website and setting the text next to an email address is very easy, this is a remarkably simple scam.  It's much easier than actually breaking into someone's account and sending email from it.  So this is a low effort, high income scam.

I've seen several variations of this.  I've even heard of small churches being hit with messages claiming to be the pastor.

To protect yourself from scams like this:

1. Always check with the alleged sender directly before spending your own money.
2. Never send gift card codes in the mail.
3. Check the actual email address.  On Gmail, you can click the down-arrow near the top-left corner of the message to see it.  See image below for an example.
   
   

Urban Legends

So you've received the latest message about a new form or CPR, rising gas prices, or radioactive cat litter.

Before warning lots of people about it, how do you ask, "Is it true?"  You can actually use Google or Snopes faster than the "Forward" button... and save yourself some embarrassment at the same time.

To use Snopes, go to snopes.com and use the Search line at the top of the page.  Type in a simple phrase, like "gas prices" or "cat litter" for a list of claims about those topics.  Snopes will tell you if its true or not.

To use Google, just copy a relatively unusual line from the message and paste it into Google.  Phrases with numbers or brand names work well.

Personally, I recommend Snopes over Google in this case.  Either one will probably work, but with Google you will have to read through several unrelated items and may even run into more copies of the claim without any real verification.  Snopes, on the other hand, does the research and clearly states if its true, false, or some mix of the two.

Which ever way you go, its worth checking your facts before forwarding a claim.  You can help stop false or even dangerous claims.  It may even save you from identity theft.

Warning: FaceBook Scams

Thanks to spam filters and common sense, most of us don't fall for scams, phishing, and worms in our email any more.  As a result, spammers and identity thieves have moved on to a new format:  FaceBook.  Actually, they're not picky.  They like Twitter, MySpace, and other social networking services, too.

If you see a post on any of those services, remember to review it like any email.  If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  For example, if a friend or even a famous person is telling you about a free offer for laptops, iPhones, or iPads, chances are good that someone broke into their account.


If you use FaceBook, I recommend taking a look at this article:  How To Prevent & Remove Facebook Malware or Virus.  They offer a lot of good advise about protecting yourself from becoming the victim of one of these scams.