SCAM ALERT! – Meal Kits – SCAM ALERT!

Published On May 19, 2021 | By Tom Huskerson | News and Analysis

Delivered meal kits are all the rage. You pay a subscription fee and you get easy to prepare gourmet meals delivered to your door. All you have to do is the Ikea thing and assembly them yourself. Did you think the scam artists would not go after that online service? Think again!

Consumers of these delicious box goodies are being warned to be on the look for a new scam.  Meal kit delivery scams have risen as a result of the COVID-19 lock down.

Cybersecurity firm Tessian reported a growing number of SMS scams impersonating meal kit delivery companies such as Gousto and HelloFresh.

As you can imagine these scams take a number of different forms. One form the scam takes is impersonating Gousto and asking recipients to score their delivery in order to have their name entered in a prize drawing.  The link takes the unsuspecting consumer to a fake website, designed to steal personal and financial information or harvest important credentials.

The message is somewhat sophisticated and varies. They can sometimes be easy to spot with one stating: “Your Gousto box is now delivered. Enjoy the reoipej! Rate delivesy and enter wrize diaw at ‘URL”.” As with many online scams the spelling and grammar can tip you off to the likelihood of something crooked happening.

According to Tessian these SMS and WhatsApp messages are typically sent out by the thousands.

Gousto has issued a warning to its customers about the scams, posting on its Twitter account: “We are aware that these emails/texts are in circulation unfortunately, and we would advise against opening them. Our Info Tech team are looking into this suspicious activity.”

If you receive a message you think is suspicious please contact you meal service delivery company directly.

 

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About The Author

Tom Huskerson Bio Born in Richmond Virginia Tom Huskerson is a military veteran who settled in California after his discharge. Tom attended Santa Barbara City College where he began his writing career as a campus reporter. He worked as an intern news reporter for the Santa Barbara News-Press writing feature stories before moving on to San Francisco. At San Francisco State University Tom studied broadcast communications and began to focus on the Internet. He completed his graduate thesis on Internet advertising. Tom was the first student to ever focus on the Internet as a graduate student at San Francisco State University. After graduation he went to work for Zona Research in California’s Silicone Valley. As a research associate Tom supported senior analyst writing on the latest developments in the Internet industry. During the dot com boom Tom worked for several web businesses as a market researcher and analyst. As a writer and researcher Tom has authored various technical works including a training program for Charles Schwab security. Other projects included professional presentations on workplace violence and hiring security contractors. Tom has also written both fiction and non-fiction works and blogging for a travel website. He has published two books of short stories and completed two novels. Tom is the owner of Scribe of Life Literature and EbonyCandle.com. Tom is not the chief editor for the OnTechStreet. com. A news and information blog that focuses on tech news for African-Americans. The blog is the result of his desire to inform the African American community of the dangers and benefits of the cyber age. In his blog Tom reports on information security, new and analysis, scams and hoaxes, legal happenings and various topics that arise from the age of information. Tom believes that technology is a necessary tool for black people and they should know what is happening. Tom writes believing that techno speak is for the professional and that valuable information can be communicated using plain language. As a result he has embraced the motto, Less Tech, More Knowledge.

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