PERSONAL SAFETY

A tip from ‘Harry Truman’: Buck surprise emails that seek ways into your wallet

STAY SAFE

Steve Rose is a retired Sandy Springs Police Captain, veteran Fulton County police officer and freelance writer. He is the author the book “Why Do My Mystic Journeys Always Lead to the Waffle House?” and the column “View from a Cop.”

Lately, a new email surfaced among the many searching for a way into my wallet. The email appeared from PayPal or Square and warned that a withdrawal of $578 was made from my bank account.

It went on to say, “Hi, this is to inform you that your bank account will be debited the amount of $578.09. However, a customer dispute on your Square dashboard has been approved for refund. The funds will be withdrawn within one to two business days. Kindly view dashboard (in hyperlink mode) for more information. If you have questions about this withdrawal, please visit our support center (again, a hyperlink) for more information. Thanks, Square Team.”

What? How can this be? I don’t have a Square account. So, I knew I’d been hacked. I wanted to dispute this ASAP! They email said to either click the link or, on the PayPal email, call a number.

If you get such an email, examine it closely. On the Square email, at the bottom, it says “Click to unsubscribe,” however there is no link. So, you call or click the “dashboard” or “support center” link. Somewhere in there you find a phone number because they say they cannot do this remotely without conversation. So, I called.

A man in horrible English said something about “Square Team,” or “Square dance,” not sure, so I said, “I’m sorry, who is this?” He responded with noticeable irritation, “Square Team. I answered the phone ‘Square Team!’” (A little snippy for customer support.)

I put on my Dawson County redneck accent and asked his name.

“Alex Watson.”

“Alex Watson?” I replied, “You don’t sound like no Alex Watson.”

“That is my name.”

“Okay Alex, someone is trying to get $578 from my bank account and thankfully, you guys caught it so what do I need to do?”

“We need to refund your money to you.”

“Agreed.”

“Can I get your name?”

“Sure, Alex Watson.”

“What?”

“Just kidding, it’s Chuck.”

“Okay Chuck, your last name?”

“Roast…get it? Chuck Roast!” (I laughed. He didn’t.)

“No, no, my name is Harry Truman.” (I really thought he’d catch on to that one but apparently Alex never saw the movie “Fletch.”

So, Alex Watson and Harry Truman engaged in a conversation focused on obtaining information. According to Alex, I needed to download a program designed to allow a remote party, as in Alex, access to my computer. As such,

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