Purchasing new tech gadgets is always an exciting but expensive treat, often involving saving money to buy the gadget of your choice. So, imagine receiving a phone call saying you bought an expensive new game system, knowing that you hadn’t made that purchase? Most people would panic as this could be a sizable hit to your wallet.
In this common scam, the targeted victim often receives a call or text claiming there was a preauthorized purchase on their account. The purchase is an alarming amount, typically around $1,500.
Here are two examples taken from real attempts of this scam:
“A preauthorized purchase of an Apple MacBook Pro and Apple AirPods is being ordered from your Amazon account for an amount of $1,537.35. To cancel your order or to connect with one of our customer support representatives, please press one.”
“Hello. This is Carl from Walmart. A preauthorized purchase of PlayStation 5 Special Edition with PULSE 3D headset is being ordered from your Walmart account for the amount of $919.45. To cancel your order or to connect with one of our customer support representatives, please press one.”
The caller may transfer their target to another ‘department’ or ask them to call another number. From there, the fraudsters often asks the target to log in to their bank accounts and will guide them through the steps of refunding the purchase. In reality, the victim is giving the scammers access to their accounts and personal information to commit identity theft or transfer money out of their account.
How To Avoid Preauthorized Purchase Scams?
Luckily for consumers, this scam has a few major red flags to help avoid falling victim to it. Amazon and other large retailers do not call about purchases for any reason besides delivery notifications. They have systems in place where they would not need to do this.
If you do receive a call about a preauthorized purchase that you do not recognize, end the call immediately, log in to your account with the retailer if you have one or call the customer service number listed on their website to double check that this purchase has not been made on your account. Do not engage with the caller and ignore any information a suspicious call may give you until you have clarified it with the retailer directly.
It is best practice to never engage with unknown numbers and report phone numbers being used by scammers to your carrier. If you believe you are the victim of a scam, you can report it to your local police, state Attorney General’s office and the FTC.
Call-blocking apps, including those powered by TNS Call Guardian®, are also a great resource for reporting and blocking unwanted robocalls. Stay vigilant, share information about scams with others and be sure to check out our monthly Scam of the Month page updates.
John Haraburda is Product Lead for TNS Call Guardian® with specific responsibility for TNS’ Communications Market solutions.
Call Guardian is a registered trademark of Transaction Network Services, Inc.
