KAWS Caution Public Not To Buy Apparel Pretending to be From Rescue
KAWS recently took to social media to caution the public against a post on Facebook that is impersonating the rescue. While KAWS holds many great fundraising and adoption events throughout the year, selling apparel is, currently, not one of them.
“This is 100% a scam!!!! We are not selling ANY apparel,” shared KAWS via their Facebook page.
Scams of any kind, including impersonation, are unfortunately not uncommon. Types of impersonation scams include:
Fake social media accounts: Impersonators create fake social media accounts that copy the names, images, logos, or other identifying information of a person, brand or organization for deceitful purposes. Creating fake social media accounts is one of the easiest forms of impersonation for scammers, which explains the drastic number of fake social media accounts. As an example, Facebook alone removed about 1.8 billion fake accounts in the third quarter of 2021, up from 1.3 billion fake accounts in the corresponding quarter in 2020.
Fake mobile apps:
Fake mobile apps impersonate businesses by copying the design and/or function of legitimate apps. These fraudulent apps execute different malicious actions after downloading them, often unnoticeable by the user. Scammers try to profit from consumers who are unaware that they are downloading a fake app in various ways. These include:
-Charging a fee for the fake app
-Carrying out advertisements to generate revenue
-Stealing sensitive data and information
-Diverting payments and revenues to illegal sites
-Executing ransomware attacks
-Selling counterfeit products
Domain spoofing:
Domain spoofing is a frequently executed impersonation scam that refers to the creation of fake web addresses to defraud customers or employees of a company. Scammers usually create look-a-like websites that copy the appearance of an existing business website including its layout, product listings and trademarks of the brand. Those copied websites often look identical to the original website or contain only slight differences which are difficult to detect by visitors.
Phishing emails:
As outlined above, scammers try to steal personal data from users through fake apps and domain spoofing scams. However, infringers also target companies to steal sensitive business or customer information. Impersonators do so by implementing a brand’s logo or name in emails pretending to be someone from the company and asking employees to reveal certain information.
Recently, the Kindersley RCMP shared that they have received recent reports of fraud connected to online buy/sell groups on social media. Victims report they are asked to e-transfer a deposit to hold a desired item. Once they do, the ‘seller’ blocks contact with them.
If you are a victim of a fraud, please report it to your local police service and to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online at www.antifraudcentre.ca or by phone at 1-888-495-8501.
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