As much pride as I take in my online literacy, I must admit I 100% got scammed yesterday! It was quite an elaborate setup, and thankfully I noticed before any harm was done.
Using Instagram, I received an ad for a black friday sale from an apparel company that seemed nice. The ad was of quality, presumably taken from the actual company they were pretending to be. I made an order and went to bed (it was late).
This morning I checked my email and noticed that I never received an email confirmation - checked spam - nothing. I go to instagram to view my past visited links and find the website. Within the instagram app embedded web browser it works perfectly. As soon as I visited that website on my normal phone browser I was redirected to the actual owner of that domain, a real (albeit different) clothing company. This is what I still do not fully understand - they were utilizing an existing domain for another clothing company, not a subdomain or anything, that was only visible within the embedded instagram web browser. Seems quite impressive (and concerning!).
The scam ad is still visible on instagram as I type this. I reported it of course. I think the following points are what got me:
Even the best of us get got sometimes! Card is cancelled and now I know better.
Brendan Trachsel © Copyright 2024 
