Costco is known for giving out free samples at its warehouse stores, but this bogus offer is one freebie consumers would be well advised to pass up, warns to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office.
The DA recently warned about a phishing scam falsely claiming to be from Costco, involving an email offering a free ice cream maker in exchange for completing a survey, a department news release noted.
The scam email, which appears to come from Costco, is actually an attempt to steal financial information or gain access to computers, officials said.
The message reads, “Dear Costco Shopper, We would like to offer you a unique opportunity to receive a brand new Ninja CREAMi Ice Cream Maker!”
Officials advise checking the sender’s email address to verify authenticity.
In this case, the email came from the domain “@handtoneed.net,” not an official Costco address. The ice cream machine offer is not the first scam — nor is it likely to be the last — targeting the big box wholesaler, which maintains a list of known active scams on its website.
Scammers often create urgency with deadlines to pressure recipients into acting quickly, officials said. Consumers are urged to avoid clicking suspicious links and report phishing attempts to authorities.
The post Free ice cream maker ‘offer’ lures victims into sticky situation, stealing their personal data appeared first on Local News Matters.