HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WRIC)– Local authorities are warning residents who have a Ring doorbell camera about a rising scam that threatens to steal your information while posing as a legitimate company.
In this phishing attack, cybercriminals will send emails spoofed as the Ring brand, a brand of security cameras that homeowners and residents use for home safety. In the email there is typically an HTML file attached, and the email will tell you to open the file to update your Ring membership.
Barry F. Moore Jr., the President and Chief Executive Officer for the Better Business Bureau serving Central Virginia, said there is a way to know for sure if this link is not legitimate.
“Look where they’re asking you to click on and there’s always misspellings, because Ring owns the real URL. They’ll put a dot or they’ll change a city,” Moore Jr. said. “Scammers do all sorts of crazy things to hijack that email.”
If you click on the file, you’ll be redirected to a fake website that may look like Ring’s login page.
The website will ask you to enter your personal information, such as your credit card number and your social security number. According to the sheriff’s office, if you enter the information, you will be redirected to Ring’s actual website, which makes the scam look more real. But the ultimate goal of the scam is to steal customers’ sensitive information.
“They are going to hijack your credit card information and you’re going to start seeing some really bad charges,” Moore Jr. said.
Residents should also be aware that they may not realize or find out that they have been scammed until a few months after entering their information.
“I don’t know how quickly you realize you were scammed because if you’re prepaying before your service gets discontinued, think about it. You’re not going to know,” Moore Jr. said. “You’ve already prepaid for that one year legitimately. You’re not going to get notified for maybe three, four or five months.”
Moore Jr. told 8News that this is a relatively new attack, but people should start seeing it pop up even more.
“The ring Rcam is something I think we’re going to start seeing more of because there’s so many Ring cameras out there and systems,” said Moore Jr.
According to the Hanover County Sheriff’s office, this type of attack is not exclusive to Ring. Cybercriminals could impersonate any type of service. But there are tips on how to stay safe from similar scams.
Deputies said if you receive an email claiming that you need to make changes to your account, always log in to the organization’s website directly. People should never click on a link or download an attachment in an email that you aren’t expecting.
