Costco Coupon Scam Alert

Holiday shopping is better when you save a bundle, but this fake Costco coupon is definitely a scam.

Who Is It Targeting: Costco shoppers

What Is It: Coupon scam

What Are They After: There are several different ways scammers can benefit from a coupon scam. They may be gathering your email address and access to your social media friends list in order to sell the information to spammers. They may also be generating revenue from click advertising by getting you to answer screen after screen of survey questions. More harmful cases may actually install malicious software on your computer by getting you to first download a bogus “coupon installer” to print your coupon. Costco is the latest company to issue a warning to social media users: they are not giving away a $75 coupon online.

How Can You Avoid It:

• Never click a link that someone shares with you unless you were specifically expecting it.
• Generate a free “throwaway” email address for online offers so you aren’t sharing your real email address with spammers.

If you think you may be a victim of identity theft, contact the Identity Theft Resource Center for toll-free, no-cost assistance at (888) 400-5530. Find more information about current scams and alerts here. For full details of this scam check out this article from IDTheftCenter.org

Read next: “Secret Sisterhood” Online Gift Exchange Scam Alert