The Fake Geek Squad Scam
This was the year that scammers went hard on pretending to be part of the Geek Squad, Best Buy’s tech support service. According to the FTC, scammers sent users texts or emails asking them to pay hundreds of dollars to renew their Geek Squad membership. Some people even received messages saying they had already been charged.
In order to dispute the charge or cancel their membership, folks were told to call a phone number within 24 hours. Scammers convinced the poor folks that did call to give them remote access to their computers, allowing them to install spyware or steal banking information. Others tricked victims into believing they were getting a refund, but then said the company had sent too much money and now needed it back.
