Scroll Past Online Advertisments

Levo Credit Union® fraud specialist, Gabriel J., explains how online advertisement scams work and shares tips to help protect your account.

What are Online Advertisement Scams?

An online advertisement scam occurs when a fraudulent ad, often on social media, promotes a product or company with an offer that seems too good to pass up.

Clicking the ad may take them to a fake website that collects their personal and financial information, giving it to a fraudster. The victim may think they’re purchasing a product, but when they do, the charge might come from an unfamiliar company, or the product may never arrive.

Tips For Preventing Online Advertisement Scams:

• Don't click the link. If a social media ad promotes a deal that seems too good to be true, don’t use the ad’s link. Visit the company’s official website directly and look for the same offer. If you can’t find it there, the ad may be fraudulent.

• Monitor accounts and statements regularly. The fraudster can hold onto your account information for weeks or months before committing the fraud. Review your account often, such as weekly or bi-weekly, and report any unusual activity to your financial institution.

What to Do If You Clicked or Provided Information on an Online Advertisement?

If you’re concerned that your financial information may have been compromised, contact your financial institution right away. Visit a branch or call a trusted number listed on its website.

If you clicked a link and entered your information, your financial institution can review your account and help you dispute any unauthorized charges. They may also recommend replacing your card with a new number to help prevent fraudsters from using your card details later.

If you’re a Levo member and suspect you’ve recently been affected by fraud, contact our Service Center at 605-334-2471 or toll-free at 1-800-568-5711.

Learn More About Other Common Scams

• Check Washing Scams

• Identity Theft

• Impersonation Scams

• Investment Scams

• Online Account Takeover

• Romance Scams 

• Fraud Prevention Education

Transcript:

(0:00) One of the big online scams that are going on right now are online advertisement (0:05) scams. Now you can see them all over, but usually you can find them on social media, but sometimes in (0:11) actual advertisements as well, especially on the bottom of pages. (0:14) You've probably seen them before, but they're advertisements that either show deals that are too good to be true (0:19) or advertisements that simply don't look real. They look like fake products or fake companies. (0:24) No matter how it looks on the front, they all kind of operate the same on the back end. (0:29) You click the link, and then it may look like a legitimate (0:32) site, but then when it asks you to (0:34) make this purchase, you type in all of your information, probably your name, your address, your card number, maybe (0:40) some of your other financial institution information, (0:42) and then (0:43) you s- click Submit, and (0:45) you click Pay.

But you then realize that, hey, you know, I didn't get my product a few weeks down (0:50) the line, or instead of getting a charge from the company that you thought, you get a charge from another (0:55) company or for another dollar amount. (0:58) So what that means is that that advertisement that you clicked, it was actually a fraudulent advertisement.

It wasn't (1:04) a real one for whoever you thought you were making (1:06) a purchase from. Once we get to (1:08) that point, usually you are able to hopefully get your funds back if you contact your financial institution, (1:13) but it's best just to not click on those links at all.

One good practice is if you (1:18) see an advertisement, especially on (1:20) social media, that's showing a deal that looks too good to (1:23) be true, don't click on the link. Don't pl- type in any of (1:26) your information. Instead, just go to that, (1:28) that merchant's (1:29) website. You'll be able to see any legitimate deal on their website just as well as that advertisement, (1:35) but if you go there and you don't see it at all, means the advertisement you saw probably wasn't real. (1:40) If you did end up clicking on a link and typing in your information, you should contact (1:44) your financial institution as soon as you're able to.

Hopefully, they'll be able to get you a new card with (1:48) new numbers, and they should be able to help you dispute any of those charges if they did end up (1:53) going through because you thought you were making a purchase for one item, but you're not gonna get anything at (1:59) all.

And then those fraudsters have your card numbers, so in the future, even if you don't realize (2:04) that this was a fraudulent ad, they can use your card weeks or months (2:07) down the line much after this whole event. So it's always a good idea to get new card (2:11) numbers.