Look Out for Fake Macy's Delivery Message
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By Better Business Bureau

3/30/16

Each year, millions of people shop at Macy's, a huge fashion retailer with customers across North America and the world. Scammers, banking on the store's popularity, have created a new phishing con that poses as a Macy's delivery email. 

How the Scam Works:

You get an email with the subject line with something like: "Macys.com Order #5698 ready for delivery." You don't remember ordering anything from Macy's recently, but you open the message anyway. Inside, there's no mention of the delivery. Instead, the email tells you that you won a prize in the store's "monthly give-away." To collect it, all you need to do is click the link. 

Emails posing as business giveaways are a popular way to transmit malware or phish for banking or personal information. Be careful of any unsolicited email that promises free gift cards or other too-good-to-be-true perks. 

How to Spot a Giveaway or Gift Card Scam:    

1. Don't believe what you see. It's easy to steal the colors, logos and header of any other established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender.  

2. Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information for coupons or giveaways. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there's a link to their privacy policy. 

3. When in doubt, do a quick web search. If the giveaway is a scam, this is likely to reveal an alert or bring you to the organization's real website, where they may have posted further information.

4. Watch out for a reward that's too good to be true. Businesses typically give out small discounts to entice customers. If the offer seems too good to be true (a $100 voucher or 50% discount) it may be a scam.

5. Look for a mismatched subject line and email body. Many of these scams have a email subject line promising one thing, but the content of the email is about something completely different. 

For More Information

Check out a comprehensive list of scams using Macy's name on their website. Note that most major retailers and consumer product companies have sections such as this on their corporate websites, as well. When it doubt, check with the company first. Find the real website using a search engine; don't click on links in an email.

To find out more about other scams, check out BBB Scam Stopper (bbb.org/scam). To report a scam, go to BBB Scam Tracker (bbb.org/scamtracker).