The phony invoice scam is a common scam popular with scammers because it is quite effective. It starts when you receive an email that purports to be from a popular company with which many of us do business that indicates that you owe them a significant payment. The scammers count on people being concerned that they are being wrongfully charged for a product they did not order. You are provided a telephone number to call if you dispute the bill. If you call the number, you will be prompted to provide personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft.
The email copied below was recently sent to a Scamicide reader and appears to come from U.S. Tech Support, a legitimate tech support company. As always, the purpose of a phishing email is to lure you into clicking on links contained within the email or providing personal information, in this case by phone if you call to dispute the phony bill . Often if you click on links in phishing emails, you end up downloading malware and if you provide the requested information, it ends up being used to make you a victim of identity theft. This particular phishing email provides a phone number to call if you wish to dispute the obviously phony invoice. If you call the number in the phishing email you will be asked for personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft.
There are a number of red flags that indicate that this is a scam, most notably that the email was sent from an email address that appears to have nothing to do with U.S. Tech Support, but was most likely the email address of someone whose email had been hacked and made a part of a botnet used to send out these phony phishing emails while preserving the anonymity of the cybercriminal.
Here is a copy of the invoice being circulated. I have deleted the name of the Scamicide reader to whom the email was sent.
Date : September 16 2021
Order No : FF-TMSY-rV-ionQ
Renewal Amount : $499.98
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Dear XXXXXX,
First and foremost, we want to thank you for your continued investment with the US Tech Support. Without your loyalty and support, we would not be able to continuously provide our members with valuable benefits and actively develop our industry. Put simply, you make what we do possible.
It’s been a year since we first met you, and we’re looking forward to many more years! Did you know that your US Tech Support membership expires today?
Since your account is set to auto-renew, we will automatically process charge on September 16 2021. There is no action required from your end. This email is just to remind you about the payment charge.
Please don’t let your membership lapse! There are better options than paying an additional dollar to attend monthly events. In case you don’t want to continue with us then make sure you call us on 845 458 1207 before September 16 2021 to avoid any recurring payment. We hope that you’ll take this time to renew your membership and remain a part of our community.
The good news is, This year we have an extra incentive for you after renewal of your membership by September 17 2021. You do not need to take any action; we just wanted to let you know. Thanks for your continued support and have a great day.
Yours Sincerely,
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US Tech Support
845 458 1207
1541 Ocean Ave #200,
Santa Monica,
CA 90401,
United States
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TIPS
Once, I received a large invoice from a company with which I do business for goods I did not order, but rather than click on the link provided in the email, I went directly to the company’s website to question the invoice. When the website came up, the first thing I saw was a large announcement that the invoice was a scam and that many people had received these phony invoices. If you ever receive a phony invoice such as this and you think that it may possibly be true, don’t click on links or call phone numbers provided in the email. Rather, contact the real company directly at a phone number or website that you know is legitimate where you can confirm that the phishing invoice was a scam.
Never click on links or download attachments in emails or text messages unless you have absolutely confirmed that they are legitimate and don’t call companies at telephone numbers that appear in the email such as this one. Instead, if the email appears to come from a legitimate company, you can call them at a telephone number you confirm is legitimate . Don’t call the number that appears in the email. In the case of U.S. Tech Support, the real telephone number to call is 801-523-6766.
For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.” Scamicide has been cited by the New York Times as one of three top sources for information about Coronavirus related scams.
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