FTC Issues Reminder About Phishing Scams Using Fake Party Invitations

The Federal Trade Commission published a blog post on May 26 warning recipients about phishing messages that appear to be party invitations from platforms such as Evite and Paperless Post. Scammers send unexpected texts and emails that prompt users to share login credentials, the FTC stated.

Once obtained, the credentials can allow scammers to take over the victim's email account and forward the same messages to the victim's contacts.

Alyssa Williamson received such an email while leaving a yoga class in New York City. The message appeared to be an alumni event invitation from a college classmate. When she clicked the link, it opened a Gmail login page.

Hours later Williamson began receiving messages from friends asking about an invitation she had supposedly sent. She texted contacts not to open the message and changed all of her passwords. Alexis Moser, who runs a preschool in Whittier, California, received a similar invitation and entered her password along with completing multi-factor authentication.

Hours afterward she received undeliverable emails from people she had not spoken to in years. Scammers used the credentials to access Moser's bank account. She observed three unauthorized transactions totaling $5,500.

Her bank later replenished the funds in a new account, and she reset her passwords. Paperless Post President Alexa Hirschfeld said the company receives a few hundred reports of these phishing attempts each week. She noted that signs of a fake invitation include an image that will not load, logos of the wrong size, or text that does not align.

Matt Douglas, CEO of Sincere Corporation, which owns Punchbowl, said recipients should hover over any URL and avoid entering information that does not appear correct. Evite stated that the sender's email address remains the single most reliable indicator of an authentic invitation.

The FTC recommends keeping security software up to date, using two-factor authentication, and acting quickly if credentials are compromised.