2014 Pinterest Scam
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning 70 million Pinterest users of a Pinterest Scam using “Pinterest emails.”
Just like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram before it, Pinterest is becoming a new outlet for scammers. Watch out for con artists who access users’ accounts and pin spammy products.
Here is how it works:
Scammers pose as Pinterest and send users an email implying a friend wants to share a pin. Usually, the pin has photos of celebrities or give aways. Users are asked to click on the image which leads to a different unrelated website.
“It looks like a legitimate opportunity to interact with a friend of yours,” said Smitherman. “The danger here is that it’s taking you off to other sites that are selling perhaps illegitimate products to a work at home schemes.”
It is a technique the CEO said may appear innocent but can do major damage.
“That’s why it’s so critical that you not click on these links that could down load malware on to your device where it can then search through your device and steal your personal information,” said Smitherman.
He said once your account is compromised, hackers can then send fraudulent messages to those connected to your account.
“Some of those folks might fall victim not realizing that your account had been scammed and can fall victim to whatever these folks are looking for,” said Smitherman.
The BBB suggest the best way to protect yourself is to change up your password, log out of your account, and don’t like all your social media networks together.** Source
Head on over to the BBB to read up on how to spot the scam and what you can do to protect your account.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
16 Responses to “Pinterest Users – Take Note – 2014 Pinterest Scam”
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Thank you very much for making us aware of this.
You’re welcome.
I heard about this! This is outrageous and I can’t believe they finally started doing it on Pinterest, too! I feel terrible for the people who have no idea about this stuff, my Grandma is taken advantage of far too often. I try to teach her what to click/not click but things like this make it hard for her to tell the difference.
Thank you so much for sharing!
I hear you Kendra! I have a hard time trying to understand where people get their time to do such craziness…seriously!
great post i will keep this in mind im always on pinterest
Great tips, thanks!
All of these scammers really annoy me! I have had multiple e-mails from Pinterest regarding changing my sign-in info. I’m guessing someone has been trying to hack into my account.
Yes Malia – go to your account but don’t click through the link in the email. When you get there – examine your boards and any links that lead to a website of yours. The latter is where they got me. The redirected traffic from my site to another site of theirs.
I actually had my pinterest account hacked and another company was redirecting my traffic to their page via pinterest!
Kim – that happened to me too! Some page from the other side of the world at that. Craziness-pure craziness!
Wow- thanks for the heads up on the pinterest scam– this is ridiculous!
I so agree! I just don’t get why people would do such things and how they manage to have time on their hands to implement this craziness.
I almost fell for an Amazon spam, thank you for this post!
It’s so hard when you just don’t know the honesty behind an email.
I have not heard of this scam before now. I use Pinterest a lot and this is very nice to know! It is sad that people do these types of things to try to trap innocent people!
It surely is Leah!