Christmas is the season for shopping and gift cards! Unfortunately, scammers are always looking for ways to exploit you. Check out the hot scams of the week and see how many of them you’ve spotted!

1. Louis Vuitton Email Scam

“Merry Christmas Sale! Gifts With Personality!” Recently we’ve spotted around 800 fake promotional emails per day featuring Louis Vuitton Christmas sales:

The email leads you to a fake Louis Vuitton website (bagfulls[.]com), and by clicking on different images you will even be led to different product pages.

Please always take a close look at the web address. The official Louis Vuitton web address is us[.]louisvuitton[.]com

You can use Trend Micro ScamCheck to check if a website is secure and browse the web safely: (It’s free!)

2. Kay Jewelers SMS Scam

Scammers also use SMS to spread links to scam websites, pretending there are promotional campaigns:

• kay_jewelry year-end deals! all 70% off. extra $10 off $89+. starting from $26.9. shop now hxxps://www[.]wowkablackfridaydeals[.]com/?125.030 reply stop unsubscribe

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

3. Raffle / Survey Scams via Text Message

Impersonating famous brands, scammers send text messages with phishing links, falsely claiming they are hosting raffle campaigns celebrating anniversaries, or giving away gifts randomly. They tell people that they’ve won prizes (iPhones, iPads, or other expensive products) and instruct them to claim the gifts via the attached links:

iPhone 13 Survey Scam

Circulating for weeks, iPhone 13 survey scams keep occupying the top scams of the week, but lately we’ve detected 4 times the number of them:

• Randi, we appreciate your honesty! This is what you earned by just being who you are. Thank us later! <URL>

Falsely claiming that you can win an iPhone 13, scammers try to lure you into clicking on the phishing links attached in the spam messages. The links lead to fake online survey pages that say before you can receive your gift you need to fill out the survey.

After you’ve completed the survey, you need to enter a delivery address and credit card details to claim the gift – scammers can record the credentials and use them to steal your money!

M247 Europe SRL iPad Pro Survey Scam

Scammers pretend to be from cloud services company M247 Europe SRL and send you fake raffle messages, instructing you to claim a free iPad Pro:

We have received your payment for this month, Barbara. Thank you for always paying your bills on time. Allow us to reward you for your support and trust in our brand. Claim your iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard when you answer our anonymous survey here: <URL>

Again, after that, you will have to enter credit card information (that will go straight into the scammers’ hands)!

Home Depot

Posing as Home Depot, scammers have been sending people text messages saying they’ve won their lottery campaign. Victims need to click on embedded links to claim their “rewards”:

/-/HOME DEPOT We have a WINNER” CID#32875–_<URL> Send 0 to STOP

If you click on them and follow the prompts, you will eventually end up inadvertently exposing your personal information. As we’ve mentioned several times, scammers can record any credentials you enter on the pages you visit through their links and use them to commit identity theft!

4. Gift Card / Rewards Survey Scams via Email

Besides text messages, scammers also use emails to spread fake survey campaigns. They guarantee you gift cards or rewards, luring you to click on phishing links that lead to fake online survey pages where you could end up exposing your sensitive credentials.

Pfizer COVID Vaccine

“Shopper, You can qualify to get a $50 Pfizer COVID Vaccine Survey gift card!”

Sam’s Club

“30 Seconds Will Reward You With $100 in Exclusive Sams Club Rewards”

Ace Hardware

“BONUS: $100 ACE HARDWARE Gift Card Opportunity”

FedEx

“Congratulations! You can get a $100 FedEx gift card!”

Starbucks

“Shopper, You can qualify to get a $50 Starbucks gift card!”

How to protect yourself

• Shop only on legitimate online stores.
• Double-check the sender’s mobile number / email address.
• Free gifts or prizes are always a major red flag.
• NEVER click links or attachments from unknown sources. Use Trend Micro ScamCheck to combat scams with ease! (It’s 100% FREE).
• Add an extra layer of protection to your device with Trend Micro Maximum Security. Its Web Threat Protection, Ransomware Protection, Anti-phishing, and Anti-spam Protection can help you combat scams and cyberattacks.

Click the button below to give it a try:

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