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Costco Email Scam: Merry Christmas - YOU CAN GET A $100 Costco GIFT CARD

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Have You Received an Email (supposedly) from Costco?
Merry Christmas - YOU CAN GET A $100 Costco GIFT CARD"

Did you receive an email claiming to be from Costco, claiming "YOU CAN GET A $100 Costco GIFT CARD" at Costco Wholesale? Or "Your Opinion is Important! Take a Short Survey to Claim Your $100 Costco Reward"

Did they then instruct you to "Click below to get started"? Or something similar?

Well, don't fall for it. It is a scam, and if you call them back or follow their instructions you will lose money and possibly your identity!

It is a fairly realistic looking scam. The scammers are getting better at stealing images from the real websites to make their fake emails look genuine. The most obvious proof that it is a scam is found by hovering your mouse over (or right clicking on) the return email address of the link they want you to click.

When you do this, you see that the email and website has nothing to do with the real company (Costco) but in this case goes to a scam website.

The people behind this are the worst kind of human scum; willing to do anything to scare, threaten, lie, cheat and steal money from anyone, including the elderly and poor. They usually operate out of Nigeria, China, Russia and even some developed western countries. Attachments typically include malware to infect your computer, tablet or phone and allow the scammer to capture your passwords.

Report received, October 25, 2022:

Information About Costco Scam Email, claiming 2nd Attempt, Congratulations You have been chosen...

There are several websites that focus on reports of scam Emails.

The links below go to pages on these other websites were you can read reports about the scams associated with this email addressCostco Scam Email, claiming 2nd Attempt, Congratulations You have been chosen...):

It is a scam

Don't fall for it. It is a scam.

What to do

Just ignore it and delete the email. Do not click on anything in the email.

Apple offers the following advice:

If you get a suspicious Email:
Scammers spoof phone numbers and use flattery and threats to pressure you into giving them information, money, and even iTunes gift cards. Always verify the caller's identity before you provide any personal information. If you get an unsolicited call from someone claiming to be from Apple, hang up and contact us directly.

Microsoft says:

Tech support scams are an industry-wide issue where scammers use scare tactics to trick you into paying for unnecessary technical support services that supposedly fix contrived device, platform, or software problems.
Scammers may call you directly on your phone and pretend to be representatives of a software company. They might even spoof the caller ID so that it displays a legitimate support phone number from a trusted company. They can then ask you to install applications that give them remote access to your device. Using remote access, these experienced scammers can misrepresent normal system output as signs of problems.

Cybercriminals don't just send fraudulent email messages and set up fake websites. They might also call you on the telephone and claim to be from Microsoft. They might offer to help solve your computer problems or sell you a software license. Once they have access to your computer, they can do the following:

Trick you into installing malicious software that could capture sensitive data, such as online banking user names and passwords. They might also then charge you to remove this software.

More information

There are several websites that focus on reports of scam Emails.

The links below go to pages on these other websites were you can read reports about the scams associated with this phone number (855-687-1444, claiming This is Microsoft. This call is to inform you that your Microsoft license key has expired):