VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Stimulus-hacking phone calls are here, says Better Business Bureau Hampton Roads Marketing and Communications manager Jamie Howell.
“We recently had an influx of, 'Oh, I got a phone call and they said they can qualify to see how much money they’ll be getting to maybe get more stimulus money.' That doesn’t exist," said Howell.
Howell explained they are seeing more scams of different kinds during the pandemic.
One of the newest schemes is not supposed to be a scam at all. Hackers are taking advantage by using the #classof2020 challenge Facebook posts to get personal information.
Using the hashtag, teens are posting their high school graduation pictures to connect with others in the Class of 2020.
“This challenge was meant to be in solidarity of the seniors that aren’t able to have an actual graduation," said Howell. "Unfortunately, it’s being used the wrong way."
Howell explained posts like these make it easy for scammers.
“We’re getting information that scammers are using your school name, your graduation year, maybe the city [where] you went to school because those are typically things that people use to set up their secret questions or passwords for websites," said Howell.
Howell made it clear there are no local complaints, but issues are cropping up across the country.
“You may even get an email one day saying, 'Hey, we are in support of the graduating class of 2020 with so and so’s school. Donate your money here,' and you may not be donating to the right place," said Howell.
Howell encouraged people to never give out personal information in an online post. Check your security settings to see who you are sharing with and change your passwords.