Do you have a target on your back?

This week I received a phony email offering a secret (or mystery) shopper job at the well-known Target stores. This fraud is particularly common near Christmas, and involves getting you to cash a phony check. Amanda Kline at PhishLabs discussed it on November 17, 2017 in an article titled Holiday phishing scams Target job seekers. Steve Mierzejewski at Secure your workplace network described it on December 11, 2017 in another article titled Target secret shopper job scam arrives in time for the holidays.

There was a more general article on May 16, 2018 by Emma Fletcher at the Federal Trade Commission blog titled A scam story: secret shopping and fake checks. On July 18, 2018 at WCPO in Cincinnati there was an entertaining article by John Matarese titled Dumb scammers target local police chief (in Newtown, Ohio).

The image was modified from one of a man painting a woman’s back at the Library of Congress.