Fraud Alert From Oregon Department of Justice

Have you received an email with the subject line “Thank you for your purchase!” that looks like it came from McAfee, a computer security software company? The email claims your account has been “re-approved” and your credit or debit card was charged hundreds of dollars. At the very end of the email, it encourages you to call a specific phone number if you would like to cancel. DON’T DO IT!

These emails pull out all the stops to look official: They appear to be from a company you’re familiar with to exploit your trust and gain personal or financial information. The truth is that they are fakes.

If you receive a suspicious email that supposedly comes from a company, look carefully at the email address and the domain from where the email was sent. When you examine the sender’s address, if you see that the email originates from a domain not associated with the company (i.e., gmail.com or aol.com), it is fake, and you should delete the email without clicking any links.

“If you click on a link, it may install malware on your computer. Malware can cause your device to crash and can be used to monitor and control your online activity, steal your personal information, send spam, and commit fraud,” said Attorney General Rosenblum.

“And”, she added, “if you call the phone number in the email, the scammer will ask you to pay money and/or download dangerous malware onto your computer.”

If you think you may have fallen victim to this scam or want to share that you have received a similar email, contact the Oregon Department of Justice online at www.oregonconsumer.gov or call 1-877-877-9392. We want to hear from you so we can protect all Oregonians – and this may include your friends and family – from scams and frauds.