The Geek Squad scam is an online con that remains a threat to internet users even in 2024. Although the Geek Squad is a legitimate company and a subsidiary of the Best Buy electronics chain, scammers have been using its name to steal thousands of dollars through phishing schemes.
The fraudsters pose as Geek Squad tech support reps and offer to help users with devices, applications, and account problems. While a few red flags might jump out when you look at a Geek Squad scam email, these can be easy to miss. In this guide, I’ll explain what the Geek Squad scam is, how you can avoid it, and how antivirus software can help protect you.
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Best Antiviruses to Avoid Geek Squad Scam
How to Prevent Falling Victim to Geek Squad Email Scam
- Choose a reliable antivirus solution with real-time monitoring. I suggest to check out TotalAV.
- Enable real-time protection. Once installed, open the TotalAV app, navigate to the settings, and enable Real-Time Protection to monitor your email for threats continuously.
- Use web protection. Ensure the Web Shield feature is enabled to block any potentially malicious links found in your emails.
- Remain cautious. Check the sender’s email to make sure it is legit. Look for spelling mistakes, and do not click on any links included in the email.
What is the Geek Squad Email Scam?
The Geek Squad scam is a phishing scam where malicious actors impersonate representatives of the Geek Squad tech support service and send phishing emails, hoping that victims will share their personal information with the fraudsters. The scammers make their tech support scam emails look genuine by:
- Sending fake invoices
- Mimicking billing data
- Using fake information
- Emailing about non-existent renewal dates
Once they make contact, they’ll try to push you to download files, click on links, confirm your identity, or provide other sensitive information.
This may expose you to malware or put your details straight into the hands of fraudsters planning to steal your identity. If you may have downloaded malware, it’s important to install antivirus software, like TotalAV, as soon as possible.
What is Geek Squad? Is Geek Squad legitimate?
Geek Squad is an electronics device support service that is a subsidiary of Best Buy. Its agents help customers directly from stores and on-site and remotely using remote access tools. Geek Squad is an entirely legitimate service, which is also a victim of the scammers.
How Does the Geek Squad Email Scam Work?
Geek Squad email scammers run several types of phishing attacks. Some of the most common Geek Squad scams I’ve seen reported, as with the similarly named Geek Tech email scam, include:
Geek Squad Auto-Renew Scams
In a Geek Squad renewal scam, the scammers mimic Best Buy’s auto-renewal service and send you an email warning that you’ll be automatically charged for renewing your membership.
This may come at a steep price and include options to cancel the renewal by:
- Sending your credit card details
- Sharing your social security number (SSN)
- Calling a provided phone number within 24 hours
The Geek Squad renewal email might look like this:
How To Identify a Fake Geek Squad Email
If you’ve received a Geek Squad message but aren’t sure whether it’s real, here are some telltale signs to help identify fake Geek Squad emails:
- Fake email addresses – Scammers may use a generic email address that has nothing to do with Geek Squad or one that is close to but not a match for the official address. Double-check the sender’s email address with the one on the official site and look out for spelling errors.
- Spelling and grammatical errors – Scammers often leave typos and grammatical errors in their emails. Check for sloppiness in the way that the email has been crafted.
- Requests for personal information – The Geek Squad’s tech support team will never ask you for financial or personal information via email or text. Emails that ask for personal information are a red flag.
- Generic details – Check if the sender addresses you by your name or if they’re using a generic greeting like “Dear sir or madam.” Addressing you with a generic salutation may be cause for concern and indicate that the message has been sent to thousands of other people.
- Suspicious email addresses – Check the customer support email address you’re redirected to by hovering over it. If the email doesn’t match the official one on the service website, it’s safe to assume it’s a scam.
- Incorrect currencies – Check if the currency of the transaction matches one that you would have used to order a Geek Squad service. If not, the email is likely from a scammer.
- Using a public email domain – No established business would send you an email from an address ending with @outlook, @gmail, or any other public domain. If you receive an email from an address that isn’t affiliated with Geek Squad, it’s a scam.
- Suspicious attachments or links – Phishing emails generally come with infected attachments or links to malicious websites. If you suspect a link or an attachment, don’t click on it. Many antivirus products, like TotalAV and Norton Antivirus, also have phishing protection tools, which will scan messages to keep you safe.
- Communicating urgency in the message – Scammers will often try to panic victims to get them to act fast without thinking or having time to notice there’s something sketchy. If someone asks you to rapidly respond, it should be a red flag.
If you’ve clicked on a link in a phishing email or otherwise downloaded a potentially malicious file, it’s very important to install an authentic antivirus program and begin scanning to see if your device has been infected with malware.
How Can You Report Fake Geek Squad Emails?
If you’ve encountered a Geek Squad phishing email, you should report it to help stop further scam attempts. There are several ways you can report phishing attempts.
- Report it to your email service provider – You can do this by clicking the “Report spam” or “Report Phishing” button when accessing the scam email message you received. Your email provider can then filter emails like these for you and other users in the future.
- Notify the real Geek Squad customer service about the phishing attempts – The company can then notify other users and help prevent the fraud from spreading.
- Forward the phishing email to organizations that track and fight phishing – Send the fake email to the Anti-Phishing Working Group ([email protected]) or your country’s equivalent organization. You can also report the phishing emails to the Federal Trade Commission and forward the email address to [email protected].
- If the phishing attempt is work-related, then report it to your employer or the IT department – They will take steps to protect the organization and its employees.
How To Avoid Geek Squad Scams
The best way to avoid Geek Squad email scams is to take preventative measures, like:
- Don’t click on links or attachments from strange email addresses – If possible, get an antivirus product, like TotalAV and Bitdefender, that includes anti-phishing features to protect you from malicious links and attachments. Scammers create fake websites to harvest information and infect devices, so it’s best to be wary.
- Block scammers – If Geek Squad scammers keep sending you suspicious emails, block the email sender.
- Contact genuine Geek Squad support when in doubt – If you receive emails and aren’t sure if it’s a phishing attempt, contact the company directly. Go to the official Geek Squad website and contact customer service by email or phone.
- Use a reliable antivirus – A good antivirus tool like TotalAV, with real-time protection, a malware removal tool, and a VPN, can monitor and secure your system and flag malicious emails to help protect you.
- Update your operating system and apps – Keeping your system updated ensures you have the latest security patches and aren’t exposed to vulnerabilities that scammers may attempt to exploit.
What to Do If You’ve Fallen Victim to Geek Squad Scammers
If your details have been compromised in a Geek Squad fraud scam, you may be wondering what to do next. And you’re hardly alone, given that 2.6 million consumers were hit by fraud in 2023, according to the FTC. Fortunately, there are several steps you can take to control the damage, protect yourself in the future, and stop other people from becoming victims.
- Change the password of the affected account – This will block any unauthorized access to your account and enable double-verification features.
- Scan your device for malware – If you’ve opened an email or clicked on a link in a phishing message, run a full antivirus scan to check if malicious software has been installed on your system.
- Report the incident to the Geek Squad – The company will take the initiative to help prevent future phishing attacks by alerting its customers.
- Review other online accounts under the compromised email – Check for suspicious activity in other accounts you registered with your email, and make sure to change passwords if they are similar.
- Alert your contacts about the attack – If the attacker can access your email information, they may send messages to your contact list, and they may even impersonate you. Because of this, it’s important to alert your contacts to prevent the spread of phishing attacks.
- Watch out for identity theft – Some phishing attacks can enable fraudsters to steal your identity, for example, by taking out credit cards or bank account loans or accessing your bank accounts directly. Watch out for signs of identity theft, such as cards arriving that you didn’t apply for, unexpected financial transactions, and suspicious login attempts. Where you can change passwords, fortify accounts with double-verification and passwords, and set security questions that cannot be guessed.
Conclusion
Overall, the Geek Squad email scam is a sophisticated phishing attempt that targets unsuspecting individuals by impersonating a real tech support service. By recognizing the signs of fake emails – such as generic greetings, requests for personal information, suspicious links, and “action-requiring” language – users can protect themselves from becoming victims.
To further strengthen your online security, I suggest using a reliable antivirus provider, like TotalAV, that provides real-time protection against threats, detecting and blocking phishing attempts before they can cause harm. By incorporating an antivirus solution into your digital safety routine, you can significantly reduce the risk of falling victim to scams and maintain the integrity of your data.
