The Better Business Bureau warns that crooks are getting craftier with emails
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Be careful the next time you check your email. One of them could be from a crook impersonating a company you trust.
Bryan Oglesby of the Better Business Bureau says crooks have been doing this for a long time, but they are getting sneakier—sometimes copying real emails from companies and adding their own twist to get you to click on a link. And people are falling for it.
“Any time there’s large brand recognition or trust in an organization, scammers are going to try to impersonate that company or brand because they know consumers are more likely to click on those links,” Oglesby said. “So Amazon was actually one of the top names that was mentioned in scams reported to BBB Scam Tracker.”
Consumer Investigator Shannon Behnken saw one of these emails in her work account. The email appeared to be from Amazon Customer Service. It said it was alerting customers that their email addresses had been shared with a third-party, and that the breach was caused by an employee who has since been fired.
At the bottom of the message was a big red flag. The email asked the recipient to click a button to check their account and find out if they were exposed.
Shannon realized the email was nearly identical to an email the real Amazon had sent customers in the past to notify…
