When it is good to ignore an arrest warrant
A couple of Coeur d’Alene readers have received a disturbing voicemail message. Scammers have moved on from suspicious activity with our Social Security numbers to include suspicious activity with our banking accounts.
The scam goes like this: A voicemail is left from a female caller in what sounds like a recorded message that “Suspicious activities from your banking accounts have been discovered, due to which there is a legal case being filed under your name. There is an arrest warrant being issued to the same. In order to talk to an officer from law enforcement Federal Reserve System please press 1 and hold the line.”
In this case don’t even bother to respond, just ignore this message. If you have any questions about your bank account, contact your bank representative directly to make sure there is no weird activity on your account.
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Amazon text messages and emails
More local readers are notifying me that they have received both text messages and emails from Amazon regarding Amazon deliveries. Some readers know that any communication from Amazon is a scam because they don’t have an Amazon account, but for those with an Amazon account how do we proceed with these messages?
First, Amazon will send you text message notifications if you sign up for them. They can send you notifications about your shipment’s arrival date or if it will be delayed. However, if you think that a text message you received from Amazon is suspicious or a fake, create a new email message and copy and paste the link from the text message into the email body and send the email to stop-spoofing@amazon.com.
If you get an OTP (one time password) text from Amazon, this could mean that somebody is trying to log into and access your account. If you are not the party accessing your account, you’ll want to change your password immediately and check your banking information with your bank.
I recently changed my password on my Amazon account and I did receive an OTP text from Amazon to access my account. As soon as I logged in using the one time password, Amazon sent me an email informing me that someone in Idaho was trying to log into my account so I was given the option of approving or denying the access. At about the same time, I also received a text message with the same alert. I chose not to click on the text message with the link and instead followed the instructions on the email message to approve access.
Amazon reported that these phishing attempts first started out as phone calls and emails, but now cybercriminals can reach you via text message. Generally speaking if you get a text from someone you don’t know just ignore it or delete it. In my case, I chose to ignore the text message and follow the prompt in the email to verify my account.
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Amazon scam with a new twist
Scams involving Amazon and other known companies abound and I have written about them numerous times but there is a new twist I recently learned about from a Post Falls reader.
The reader received a call supposedly from an Amazon representative telling him a large purchase was made on his Amazon account and he was asked to verify the purchase. As a reader of this column, the call recipient smelled a scam but played along just to see what the spin was this time (plus he did not have an Amazon account so he knew this call was a scam). After stating it was not his purchase he was directed to call a toll free number for further instructions. On that call the “helpful” support staff at the other end of the line directed him to a website and he was asked to download a program that would allow access to his computer so the appropriate form to contest the charge could be downloaded to his computer.
So the scam in this case was wanting to gain access to the potential victim’s computer to possibly plant spyware and/or harvest important personal information. Best way to avoid these types of scams is to simply contact the company directly to verify what the caller or email is telling you. Never allow a person you do not know to access your computer.
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Watch out for phony text messages from your bank
I received a suspicious text from my bank that my account has been suspended. Of course, to verify this update, I needed to click on the provided link. The text message appeared to come from systembank.wellsfargo.operationconnection. What makes this text message frustrating is that whoever sent the message probably is aware of where I bank as I have never received any similar text messages from any other bank.
I was able to verify directly with the bank that my account was not compromised but this is another clever attempt by the scammers to get us to click on a link to find out why the account was suspended. I ignored the text message and deleted it.
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Remember: I’m on your side.
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If you have encountered a consumer issue that you have questions about or think our readers should know about, please send me an email at terridickersonadvocate@gmail.com or call me at 208-274-4458. As The Cd'A Press Consumer Gal, I’m here to help. I’m a copywriter working with businesses on marketing strategy, a columnist, a veterans advocate and a consumer advocate living in Coeur d’Alene.