Geek Squad is a subsidiary of big box store chain Best Buy and it offers excellent tech support for electronic devices including televisions and computers. They are a popular company used by many people. Lately, scammers have been sending phishing emails that appear to be Geek Squad invoices. It looks like a legitimate email from Geek Squad, however the grammar is not particularly good which is one of many indications that this is a scam. This particular email is a phishing email intended to lure you into contacting the scammers where you will be prompted to provide information that will lead to identity theft.
Here is a copy of the email presently circulating.
Renewal Notice
Order ID:- THZG0F9V3
Product Name:- Belkin- F9K1001
Tenure:- 3 Years
Renewal Status:- Auto Renewal
|
|
|
Dear Customer
I hope you are doing well we’re glad to serve you as our registered customer.
We have a new network security update ready for installation.
As per our connect with you. Your Plan will be auto-renewed and it will charge $419.19, Call us now for any concern 808 444-7796
|
|
|
Thank you for choosing GK
|
|
|
|
|
|
To cancel & get an instant return of your subscription, please contact our Customer Service Center.
|
|
| Premium Support – 808 444-7796 |
|
|
|
TIPS
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. In the case of Geek Squad their customer service number is actually 800-433-5778. The phone number in the email is not that of the Geek Squad and the area code is that of Hawaii. Never call the number that appears in these types of emails.
An immediate indication that this is not legitimate and is a phishing email is the fact that the email address from which it was sent has nothing to do with Geek Squad. The email address appears to be that of some unfortunate person whose email account has been hacked, made a part of a botnet and used to send out spam and phishing emails such as this. Additionally, nowhere in the email does your name appear. The salutation is “Dear Customer.”
Also, in this particular email, it is apparently an invoice for a continuing service plan, but the bill indicates that the product is a particular router which would have been a one time charge.
The fact that the email carries the logo of Geek Squad is not an indication that it is legitimate as it is quite simple to counterfeit a legitimate logo to give the email the appearance of legitimacy.
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.
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is sign up for free using this link. https://scamicide.com/scam-of-the-day/
