walmart foundation/walmart.org scam:
Beware, scammers may target people who ask them to fill out a form to receive grants or pandemic relief payments from the walmart foundation or walmart.org. neither the walmart foundation nor walmart.org awards money to individuals and they also don’t text or email for grant applications or pandemic relief payments. do not click on the links or respond to these text messages or emails; these are not legitimate.
coronavirus scam:
Beware, scammers may be targeting customers asking them to send money to reserve a coronavirus vaccine or a government stimulus check. If you’re being asked to wire money, provide a money order, or load a prepaid/gift card to pay for a coronavirus vaccine reservation or to get a government stimulus check, it’s not legitimate.
visit irs coronavirus scams
spoofing:
A method of fraud in which the scammer sends an email that appears legitimate in an attempt to collect personal and financial information from recipients. The scammer sends an unsuspecting customer an email that may appear to be a legitimate email from Walmart (including the use of the Walmart logo). if the customer falls for the bait (hence the “fishing” reference), the thief could obtain credit card numbers, pins, account passwords, expiration dates, credit card/bank account numbers, and even social security numbers. learn more about phishing. Learn more about phishing.
visiting:
vishing is very similar to phishing, but instead of being done via email, vishing is done over the phone. In these scams, scammers pose as a trusted retailer or bank and obtain personal information from the customer by asking them to “verify” the information on file. the information obtained is then used for fraudulent transactions.
A good rule of thumb: If someone contacts you to verify your personal information, there’s a good chance you didn’t provide it to them in the first place, and it’s not a legitimate request. legitimate companies will not expect you to provide your social security number or other personal information when they call. if you get a call like this, don’t provide any information. when in doubt, call a trusted company number, such as the one on a statement or bill, the back of your credit/debit card, or on their official website (do not use the phone number provided by the person on the phone or sent via a suspicious email). learn more about vishing.
hitting:
a combination of the terms “sms” and “phishing”. it is similar to phishing, but refers to fraudulent messages sent by sms (text messages) instead of email. The scammer may send her a text message saying that she won a free gift card. Remember, you can’t win a contest you didn’t enter. Walmart does not notify winners of any contest via text message. learn more about smishing.
tips to avoid these scams
- never provide personal information in response to an unsolicited request, whether over the phone or online. A reputable business will never ask a customer for highly sensitive information during a call they initiated. A financial institution may ask for the account owner’s partial social security number for verification, but will never ask for the full social security number, account number, or pin.
- Do not respond to any suspicious emails, robocalls, or text messages.
- don’t trust caller ID. scammers can manipulate caller ID to display the name of a legitimate business. To be sure, you can check if the phone number matches the number on your bank statement, credit/debit card or on their official website.
- Avoid scam sites by entering web addresses directly into the browser yourself or using bookmarks you create. don’t click on links in emails that you haven’t directly requested from a company or that seem suspicious.
- If you have been a victim of such a scam, contact your financial institution immediately to protect your accounts.
Do not reply or respond to an email, phone call, or text message that:
- requires you to provide personal or account information directly in the email
- requires you to click a link to provide more personal or account information
- threats to close or suspend your account if you don’t take immediate action
- invites you to take a survey that asks you to enter personal or account information
- indicates that your account has been compromised or that there has been third-party activity on your account, then asks you to enter or confirm your personal or account information