Holiday Hustle
Article published in Northampton Living
(January 2023)
‘Tis the season for big buys, frequent returns, and, we hate to say it: skeevy scams. We talked to tech expert Scott Haselkorn about what to note before you answer that urgent email from Amaz0n. (And no, that’s not a typo. It’s just more reason to read on.)
NL: So where do you want to start today?
SH: I’d like to talk specifically about fraud notices people get in their email so they don’t give their credit card number out to criminals.
NL: That sounds very important. How do problems like this typically present?
SH: The scammers know everyone’s contact information because that stuff’s not really private anymore: We all experience contact through telemarketers, email vendors, and even places we haven’t been before. One example is that you’re a Target shopper and all of a sudden Best Buy starts emailing you.
NL: So where do things get sticky?
SH: Where consumers get into trouble is when they get an email or even a letter that usually looks legitimate and will thank them for their order of something popular, like an iPad, a desktop computer, even a TV. It will often say it’s from [Best Buy’s] Geek Squad, or Amazon, or Apple. And that you should get in touch if you want to cancel or change the order that will ship in a few days. Usually, it’s from an email address that will say something random or non-official, like a Hotmail address. Every once in a while, you’ll see Amazon spelled wrong or something more maliciously crafted, like Apple spelled with a capital “I” instead of a lowercase “l.”
NL: What happens if you respond?
SH: The companies start asking questions that if they were legitimate, they would know the answers to. If you give them your credit card number, they will take you down a rabbit hole and flag you as someone who’s going to respond. Then you’ll get “phished” [scammed] more regularly
NL: What can people do to prevent getting scammed?
SH: Teach people in your life that might be more susceptible to it, like people who might have memories that aren’t as strong as they once were. People get scammed out of tens of thousands of dollars every day. What’s sad is the people who might be on a fixed income. They get an email about their order for their $800 TV, and they’re thinking they can’t afford groceries for the month. They’re thinking of the repercussions, not thinking it might not be real. So when you see emails about returns, replacement orders, whatever it is, use a bit of skepticism.