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Ecommerce Industry News
The FBI described a devious Google authentication scam targeting online sellers. The FBI Oregon’s Tech Tuesday segment explained how the scheme works, which we’ve summarized below. (Hat tip to Pymnts.com.)
The FBI explains, “Once set up, he can use that Google Voice account to conduct any number of scams against other victims that won’t come back directly to him.” (Google Voice is a free service that lets you set up a phone number that can be used to make phone calls and send texts.)
The FBI said scammers can also use the authentication code people provide them to gain access to, and take over, victims’ Gmail accounts.
It seems likely scammers could use variations of this scheme, so think twice before you read out any numbers that come to you from what looks like an authorized source unless *you* initiated it personally.
The FBI provided additional tips for avoiding scam:
The full post is available on the FBI website.
What the deuce is “Fluffy-finders”? And why are they specifically called out along with buyers and sellers?
In the press release, it said scammers also target “sites where you post about lost pets,” so it was a reference to users of those types of sites. (Despicable to target sad pet owners)
I encountered this several times when listing to Facebook’s marketplace and once or twice on Craigslist. Could tell immediately it was a scam. But until now, I wasn’t exactly sure how they used this information; glad I read this! As soon as I replied that I knew it was a scam, they dropped me like a hot potato, all except one who tried to convince me she was legit. I haven’t gotten one of these in a long time, so I’m wondering if there are coordinated groups of scammers doing this in defined geographical areas. If it were random, you’d think I’d get one of these authentication requests every time I posted a listing.
Is it my old eyes, or is every ‘ghost’ scam slightly out of focus, like the old mimeograph copies?
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