Consumers: Scammers are impersonating business with fake subscription renewal notices

Be extra vigilant when receiving urgent emails

By Staff Reports

Email continues to be a popular avenue for scammers who want to steal personal and financial information. To trick you into clicking links and providing personal information, scammers are posing as legitimate businesses. The Better Business Bureau warns consumers to be extra vigilant when receiving urgent emails from supposed businesses asking for payment information.

How this scam works

You receive an urgent email from a business you have a membership or an account with that states your subscription or membership has expired. It asks you to click a link to provide payment information. It may look legitimate and include the business’s logo, and you may have even received the email near the time your subscription has expired or will be expiring. So, you click the link and provide your credit card information, only to find out the email and the website were fake. Your card may be charged, and a scammer now has your personal and financial information.

Scammers may also email you stating your subscription has or will be auto-renewing, causing confusion and worry. They may provide a customer service phone number, which is actually fake.

One consumer said, “I received an email that “my Sirius XM account has expired!” This came one day after my normal Sirius XM renewal date. The email wanted me to go to a website and “insert” my credit card info . . . before proceeding, I logged into my actual Sirius XM account and verified it had automatically renewed. What threw me off at first was the scammer somehow knew my renewal date.”

How to avoid similar scams

• Take a second look at the email. There are several red flags that identify phishing emails. Look at the sender’s email address — if it’s a long string of numbers and letters that don’t make sense, or if the email address doesn’t look right, it’s likely an impostor.
• Go to the business to confirm the email. If you receive an email stating your subscription has expired or payment is needed, verify the information on your own. Call the business’s real phone number directly (don’t use any phone numbers included in the questionable email you got) and verify your account details with them.
• Keep track of any subscription or membership renewal dates and the anticipated charges on a calendar so you know when to expect them.
• Don’t provide your payment information to anyone if you did not initiate the purchase. If you’re being asked to pay with your bank account, prepaid credit cards, digital wallet apps, or wiring money, this is a red flag.
• Check with BBB Scam Tracker. If you’re questioning an email you received from a business, look up the details at www.bbb.org/scamtracker and verify if anyone else has received the same type of email. This can help you verify whether or not it is fake.)