Think You Won a Gift Card From Best Buy? SMS Text Message Scam Hits

Have you received a text message telling you that you are the lucky winner of a Best Buy, Wal-mart, or Starbucks gift card? If so, you are not alone!

One of the newest types of identity theft scam lures unsuspecting victims by sending mass text messages to randomly generated phone numbers.  The batches SMS messages usually send sequentially, which means many people within the same community receive the messages at about the same time.

The messages state that you have entered one of the surveys that is commonly located on the bottom of a store receipt.  Their hope is that you did complete one of these surveys and you might believe that you actually won.

When the victim clicks the link in the text message they are taken to a website that asks for the person’s email address and ZIP code.  If that information is completed, the next screen congratulates the victim and states that only a little more information is needed to claim the gift card.

The website asks for personal information including name, date of birth, address, and phone number.  That is actually all of the information that is needed to steal your identity.

WOWT Channel Six news stopped by our Omaha Service Center to ask some questions about the scam.  Here’s the video of their news report:

If you received one of these text messages Best Buy posted suggested information on their website about how to handle it.

If you have already responded to one of these text messages and completed all of the information then you could have a problem on your hands.  It might be a good idea to file a police report (create a paper trail marking the beginning of the event) and to also request that your bank place a fraud alert on your credit reports to prevent accounts from being opened in your name.