Scammers are always finding new ways to steal your money and identity. They have come up with many tactics, but the bottom line remains the same: pretending to be from famous companies or organizations, hitting you up with threats or too-good-to-be-true deals, and prompting you to send money or sensitive information for their own good.

In this post, we will share the details of four popular scams – Easter shopping, INTERPOL impersonation, Walmart giveaway, and Amazon survey scams. Check how these scams work and learn tips on avoiding becoming a victim of these sneaky scammers. Can you spot all these scams?

Easter Shopping Phishing Scam

Scammers are “eggcited” about Easter, and they cannot wait to make a profit out of it! They send text messages about an “Easter sale” to people, claiming that many electronic products and other goods are on sale through a phishing link.

If you take the bait, you will be asked to enter payment details, including your credit card number, expiration date, and CVC code, to pay for the goods. The data you send will be in the scammers’ hands, allowing them to steal your money as well as your identity!

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I am sooo eggcited about these deals, Julie, that I am an Easter-basket case! Get early access to Easter sales starting NOW! <URL>

Check Before You Shop to Avoid Easter Shopping Scams
Copy-paste a link of any online shopping site and send it to Trend Micro ScamCheck on Messenger or WhatsApp to see if it is legitimate:

Trend Micro ScamCheck is also available as a Chrome extension. It will block dangerous sites for you automatically:

For more tips on avoiding online shopping scams, please visit here.

Walmart Facebook Giveaway Scam

Snopes reported that a fake Walmart Facebook page published a post claiming to be giving away vouchers to celebrate Walmart going plastic bag-free. The post reads:

To celebrate the great news of Walmart becoming plastic bags free by the end of 2021, we are giving one of these Walmart gift-bags to everyone who has shared & commented by 7pm 24th March,.Each person who does this will receive one of these gift bag full of goodies and a $75 Walmart voucher. After that, Validate your entry @hxxps://bit[.]ly/2Qq4gwy

Here are screenshots of the official and fake Walmart pages. The fake one (on the right) does not have a blue checkmark beside its name.

The post prompts you to “validate” for the campaign through a phishing link. The link leads you to a website where you are prompted to enter personal information, including your home address and credit card number (for “delivery” of your reward). The data you provide ends up in the scammers’ hands, and they can use it for various scams such as identity theft.

In fact, we have reported similar phony fan pages in previous blog posts claiming to represent Pizza Hut, Pepsi, Bora Bora, and Subway.

INTERPOL Email Scam

The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) warned people of scams using their name. Scammers pretend to be from INTERPOL and send spoofed emails. They use many tricks to urge you to reply the email. For example, they falsely claim that you are a victim of a scam and that they are making compensation. Or, they say they need to investigate a crime and ask for your personal information.

If you reply to them, you will be further instructed to wire money or to provide sensitive information to the scammers. “INTERPOL never contacts members of the public directly, never demands money from people and will never ask for your bank details or any money transfer,” as written in the statement. Please be careful!

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Greetings to you. This is to inform you that the International Monetary Fund [IMF] And International Police (INTERPOL) is compensating all the scammed victims $3.2million United States Dollars. Your name and email address was mentioned to the United States Secret Service by one of the Scammers who was arrested. Meanwhile this Compensation department has been mandated by the IMF and the United Nations to transfer your compensation funds to you through Online Transfer Payment which is 100 % Guarantee for payment to you as one of the scammed victim. Furthermore we advise you to stop any further communication with any other person(s) or office(s) concerning any transaction that you might have lost your hard earned money to avoid losing more money to other group of scammers who are on the FBI wanted list and are still on the run and for this

ORDER OF APPROVAL FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AND TRANSFER OF FUND VALUED AT £907899 TO M4. Dear sir, kindly be officially informed that we have approved the funds belonging to for transfer to his CSOB account IBAN: 8IC: , in the sum of £907899 only. You are to act accordingly under the international financial regulations to proceed with the transfer of funds. We will be expecting proof of payment as soon as the transfer commences. We look forward to prompt response and action on this matter. Yours faithfully, Jurgen Stock, Secretary General, InterPol

Amazon Survey Phishing Scam

Scammers pretending to be from Amazon send text messages claiming that you can get a “complimentary voucher” by clicking on the link attached. The link is a phishing link; once you click on it, you will be taken to an online survey page.

Once you finish all the questions, you will be directed to another page that claims you can win an iPad Pro. Then, to schedule for the delivery, you will have to enter personal inforamtion, including your name, email, and even payment details (for “delivery” of your reward). The data you enter will end up in the scammers’ hands, and they can use it for other scams such as identity theft.

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Amz Refund We have funded your account with a complimentary voucher Activate it before expiry in 24hrs <URL>

How to protect yourself from phishing scams?

• Double-check the sender’s mobile number/email address.
• Reach out to the official website or customer support directly for help.
• NEVER click links or attachments from unknown sources. Use Trend Micro ScamCheck for immediate scam detection!

Did you successfully spot the scams? Remember, always CHECK before your next move.

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