Would bad guys take advantage of Valentine’s Day, a day of romance, to take you for all your worth?
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) says they will. In a recently released statement, the BBB warned of dating site scams, phishing emails, and viruses in Valentine’s Day ecards.
Becky Maier, Public Relations Director for the Better Business Bureau of Western PA, said “Valentine’s is an emotional time for many people. But if you’re not careful, you could fall victim to a Valentine’s Day scam.”
The BBB reports that one Valentine’s Day ecard scam is an email that directs the receiver to visit a site that looks like a legitimate, popular, ecard site. Once on the site, the user is prompted to download the latest version of Flash Player so they can view the card. But the download is actually a virus designed to steal data from the victims computer.
Another Valentine’s Day scam involves an email that appears to be from a legitimate flower company. It will imply that something went wrong with your order and you need to reenter your credit card number to complete the order and have the flowers delivered. A link for doing so is included in the email. According to the BBB, a ‘significant number’ of these will reach people who actually did order flowers and may believe the email.
The BBB is also warning members of dating sites. They report that scammers will often use a fake profile and pictures designed to match the likes/dislikes of certain people. The person will appear to be perfect, but for some reason they will need money, perhaps for travel costs for a visit.
The BBB says “This is a very old and common scam.”
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