What is the Geek Squad email scam?

The Geek Squad scam is an email scam in which cybercriminals send a fake email posing as an official transaction confirmation from Geek Squad, a subsidiary of Best Buy, a well-known multinational consumer electronics company. The email contains information about a subscription renewal or order that the recipients are unaware of.

Scammers use fake invoice numbers, renewal dates, and other order details to make the email appear genuine. They use official logos and promotional banners to make the email appear legitimate, ensuring that their target believes them. Additionally, scammers include their numbers and tell recipients to contact them if they need help with their order.

Targets panic when informed about a large transaction and call scammers quickly to get more information about the transaction or cancel it in time. After that, the scam can take various forms, but the ultimate goal of cybercriminals is to extract as much money as possible from their victims.

How to Avoid the Geek Squad Email Scam
If you received an email supposedly from Geek Squad and are worried it might be a scam, you've done half the work to avoid it.

Whatever you do, do not send personal information by email or any other means, and certainly do not reply to the same email or call the number indicated.

You should follow basic techniques to avoid falling for scams, in particular: do not click on links and do not download attachments. Raise awareness about the scam, but do not forward the email, in case someone else falls for it. In fact, the best thing you can do is delete the email completely.

If you share your computer with someone else, block the sender to prevent you from accidentally falling victim to the scam.

In short, ignoring the Geek Squad scam email and blocking the sender is the best way to avoid it.

How does the Geek Squad email scam work?

As soon as the recipient calls the indicated number, the scammers claim that a transaction has been made from their account. To deceive their victims, scammers explain that they can cancel the transaction. As a natural reaction to that suggestion, the recipients agree.

To begin with, they ask recipients for their personal information, but officials should never ask for private information such as credit card information, social security numbers, etc. over the phone.

Old-school scammers sometimes explain to their targets that they cannot cancel subscriptions on their part and that they must access the recipient's computer to do so. The cybercriminal may claim that a strange PC problem caused this transaction. They suggest giving them remote access to your computer to fix the problem because they fear it could happen again.

Once their targets grant them access, they are at the mercy of the scammers as to how far they will go to scam them. They may conduct large banking transactions, install malware to defraud recipients again, request payment for remote assistance they have provided, or charge “cancellation fees.”