Mother’s Day Phishing & Shopping Scams 2023: Amazon/Costco Giveaway, Samsung, Michael Kors

Mother's Day is right around the corner — have you prepared your gifts? Just like last year, we’ve been tracking many scams and phishing attempts using the good name of Mother's Day. Read on for what we’ve found!

Impersonating trusted brands, scammers will send you phishing links via social media, text message, or email, with the goal of stealing your personally identifiable information (PII): email address, Social Security number, credit card number, and more. They falsely claim you can win a gift by participating in their online survey via the attached links. These links lead to scam phishing websites designed to record any credentials you submit. With your stolen information, scammers can then commit identity theft and other crimes. See the below examples for reference.Scammers have been using people's compromised accounts to spread phishing links on Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp for a while.

As Mother's Day approaches, scammers are also promoting bogus Mother's Day giveaway campaigns.

Have you received messages on WhatsApp about the Amazon Mother's Day giveaway? Don't click — it's a SCAM!

If you open the link, it will take you to a fake Amazon survey page that will instruct you to answer questions and submit personal data like your address and credit card number. It will also ask you to share the link others, exposing your credentials — but friends and family too. Don't fall for the scam!

"Congratulations! Costco Mother's day gift. Through the questionnaire you’ll have a chance to get $8000!" Have you seen this message on Facebook Messenger recently? Delete and ignore. The Costco name is also featured in the latest Mother's Day giveaway scams.

Scammers will prompt you to click on the attached phishing link via Facebook Messenger, leading you to fake Costco survey pages — if you submit personal information, it will end up in the scammer's hands!

The best way to prevent phishing scams is to never click on links from unknown sources, but a FREE tool to help you fight scams wouldn't hurt either, would it? Trend Micro Check is a free browser extension and mobile app for detecting scams, phishing attacks, malware, and dangerous links. Download today and surf the web with confidence!

The Trend Micro Check browser extension blocks dangerous sites in real time! (Available on Safari, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Edge.)  

The Trend Micro Check app automatically detects and filters scams and spam 24/7. (Available for Android and iOS).  

Check out this page for more information on Trend Micro Check.   

Besides fake giveaway links, scammers will also send out text messages directing you to scam online shops advertising too-good-to-be-true deals. Be aware of the below, and never click on unknown links.

(LIVE PUBLIC ONLINE AUCTION SUNDAY <DATES> @<TIME>) 0,000 ITEMS MICHAEL KORS PURSES FOR MOTHERS DAY GIFTS!!! NEW FURNITURE, SECTIONALS, ELECTRONICS, APPLIANCES, PATIO FURNITURE SETS, HOME DECOR, FIRE-PITS, WASHING MACHINE, DRYERS, EXERCISE EQUIPMENT, MUCH MORE!!! PICK UP MON/TUES 00000 BRICKYARD DRIVE MADERA CA 00000 <URL>

Hey <NAME> its Stacy with Victra Verizon. Verizon just dropped this Samsung deal and I wanted to share it with you. Check this out! For as low as <MONEY> /mo you can get ALL 0 of these devices: Galaxy S00 Galaxy Watch0 00mm Galaxy Tab S0 FE Hint Great Mothers Day Gift idea here. Locations: <URL> Qualifying phone trade-in (cracked screens OK!) and Premium Unlimited plan required. Limited time. Conditions apply. Details in-store.

happy mothers day with love from pizza hut buy a large pizza get a jumbo coke mug freemugs until stocks lastonly valid today order via <URL>

From April 17th to May 8th, our research team detected and blocked 542,307 fake Mother's Day shopping websites around the world. Keep an eye out for these red flags:

For more tips on spotting fake online shops, please check out this article.

Wishing all the Moms a great Mother's Day! And if you’ve found this article an interesting and/or helpful read, please SHARE it with friends and family to help keep the online community secure and protected. Also, please consider leaving a comment to share your online shopping experience with us or LIKE below.

Share this article:

Was this article helpful?

Your email address won't be shown publicly.

Blog

Mother’s Day Phishing & Shopping Scams 2023: Amazon/Costco Giveaway, Samsung, Michael Kors