The Naperville Police Department is reminding residents to be cautious of email or text invitation scams as the season for graduation and summer parties begins.
The department shared a consumer alert from the Federal Trade Commission in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
Signs of email invite ‘phishing scams’
The FTC warns that the email and text scams are designed to look like popular invitation sites such as Evite and Paperless Post.
The scams often name someone invitees would know as the host to make them appear real. Some fake sites require users to log in with email and password credentials, while others require a phone number to receive a special RSVP code.
However, the FTC says that legitimate invitation sites don’t require these extra steps to view invitation details, and that this is often a sign of phishing scams.
How to protect from scams
The FTC advises those receiving a suspicious invitation to first check with the host to confirm its authenticity.
To protect personal information from phishing scams, update security software and use two-factor authentication.
If you think a scammer has access to your email account, change the password immediately and check IdentityTheft.gov for further instructions if other information was lost.
Report phishing scams
Phishing emails can be forwarded to the Anti-Phishing Working Group at reportphishing@apwg.org, and scam texts can be sent to SPAM (7726). Any phishing attempts should be reported to the FTC.
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