🚨 We haven't seen such an elaborate scam in a long time, but this is it! Not only does the scammer use homoglyphs—characters that look very similar or identical to Latin characters—to spoof us into thinking that this is legitimate, but they have also created a very realistic phishing website to go along with it! Read more to see how elaborate this scam is.
🕵🏼 How to tell:
- The sender's name is ᗩᕲT, not ADT. At first glance, it reads like ADT, which can trick us into thinking that we're interacting with a legitimate email.
- There are odd abbreviations. This one's a bit hard to spot because there is no glaring mistake that catches our eyes, but legitimate companies very rarely abbreviate their messaging.
When we receive email submissions from our community, we always click on the links in the message so we know what's waiting on the other side of these scams when someone accidentally clicks them or gets tricked! In many cases, they don't really do a good job copying the company's website, but this case is an exception. Check out the ᗩᕲT website below:
The fake website certainly looks real! However, the website address (circled in red in the image above) is not ADT.com, but homeprotectioncenter.com, which tells us that this website is not legitimate.
đź”’ Ways to stay safe:
- As usual, mark the email as Spam/Junk in your mailbox to prevent the same sender from sending more scam emails to your address.
- Always check the sender's name and email address. Take your time when reading their information, as homoglyphs are intended to make you think that they're legitimate.
- Go straight to the company's websites to claim a promotion. In this case, go directly to adt.com to verify if they have a summer discount.
🚨 If you click the link by accident
Don't panic! It's harder to think clearly when we're in a heightened state. In most cases, clicking the link isn't going to have an immediate impact on your computer. Damage occurs when we take the next steps they'd like us to take, like calling the number on the website or submitting our personal information.
If you accidentally open the link, you can:
- Close your browser (Safari/Chrome/Firefox), and
- Be prepared to get professional help or assistance to ensure your computer is secure.
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