Scammers use email seemingly from Walmart to try to get personal info.



MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Scammers are using a new trick -- trying to get consumers to give up information with a clever holiday spin, and this scam can do a lot of damage if you don't know what to look for.

"The subject line was 'delivery cancelling,'" Michael Fairbanks said of an email he got that looked like it was from Walmart.

"It looked fairly professional," Fairbanks said.

And the email came during the holiday season. The email notified Fairbanks that a delivery to his home failed because the address wasn't correct -- and asked for clarification.

The email said: "You are advised to fill out this form and send it back to us" -- saying money would be deducted if Fairbanks didn't reply within one week.

"I know I hadn't ordered any packages and immediately called the rest of the family to see if they had.  They hadn't ordered anything from Walmart either," Fairbanks said.

Fairbanks said he knew it was a scam -- and wouldn't click the link, fearing it would ask him for personal information or unleash a virus on his computer.

"Those types of emails, if it were an official email, would have come from a Walmart.com or a Walmart dot whatever the store designation is.  This came from a private individual," Fairbanks said.

Contact 6 asked Walmart about the email, and got a response saying this is a fairly common scam and has no relation to the real Walmart.

Fairbanks says he's glad he came to Contact 6 to get this checked out.

"Generally, I send out an email blast to all my friends and relatives.  But I thought to myself that this is just gotten too big.  Let's let Contact 6 do the work - I'm gonna be lazy this time!" Fairbanks said.

Contact 6 says folks shouldn't be lazy when it comes to personal information -- especially when it comes to fake emails like the one sent to Fairbanks, or the foreign lottery you just won, or the loan you just got approved for, or some helpless person you've never met who needs you to wire money overseas right away.

They're all fake, and should be deleted.