Police are warning residents to be aware of a scam posing as an email from Wal-Mart that is seeking credit card and other information.
The scam involves an email that has the subject line “Thanks for your Walmart.com order” and is sent from wallmart.com, according to a fraud alert posted on Walmart.com’s website. It is noted that the email sender’s name is misspelled — two L’s are used instead of one in Wal-Mart’s name.
According to the fraud alert, the emails were sent beginning May 16 and “appear to be a phishing scam attempting to obtain information.”
Maine State Police Lt. David Tripp said police determined the scam is occurring in multiple states after contacting representatives at Wal-Mart. The most recent scam attempt was reported May 16 and targeted a resident in Morrill who received an email alleging to be from Wal-Mart about a recent purchase. The email asked for credit card information to verify the purchase. When the resident called Wal-Mart to verify the origins of the email, they were advised it was a scam, according to police.
“When a trooper followed up with Wal-Mart, a representative said it was pretty wide-spread,” Tripp said.
Ashley Hardie, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, said the company is investigating the source of the email and they do not know exactly how wide-spread the issue is.
Tripp said that Morrill is the first incident in Waldo County that he has noticed, but he cautioned residents to be careful about providing any type of personal information — credit card or Social Security numbers — online unless it is through a secure site, such as a bank.
Wal-Mart states in the fraud alert posted on the website that no customer accounts have been comprised at this time. However, customers can delete any payment information saved on the site and reset their passwords as a preventative measure.
Hardie confirmed that no customer accounts have been compromised, as a result of the phishing scam. She encouraged anyone who received the email to delete it immediately and not click on any of the links.
Tripp said if anyone receives a scam email they should immediately report it to police. The fraud alert posted on Wal-Mart’s website also recommends people not click on any of the links contained in the email and that they delete it.
The fraud notice continued by recommending customers monitor their bank statements to be aware of any fraudulent charges. If a suspicious charge appears on a bank statement, the banking institution should be contacted to resolve the issue, according to the fraud alert.
For more information regarding Internet and email scams, go to onguardonline.gov.
Republican Journal reporter Ben Holbrook can be reached at 338-3333 or at bholbrook@courierpublicationsllc.com.