United Refund Scam Explained

Scammers have recently been posing as representatives from a company named United/United Refund. They’ve been attempting to deceive people by stating that they qualify for a W2-related refund and then attempting to manipulate them into disclosing their personal and financial information. 

Although it has been reported as so elsewhere online, there is no indication that the scammers are intentionally impersonating United Airlines. It is simply an unfortunate coincidence that the scammers chose a bogus business name similar to that of the airline.  

United refund scam call 

As reported by ScamAdviser, scammers have been calling people from a number with a caller ID of 855-977-1975, stating they’re from a company called United/United Refund, and informing would-be victims that they’re entitled to claim a W2-related refund.  

Below is a screenshot showing a transcription of a voicemail left by one of the perpetrators of this scam that has recently been targeting business owners.  

United refund scam. Source: ScamAdviser

The scammers’ goals 

Although the scammers appear to be calling from the US, it seems as though they may be based elsewhere, as evidenced by this Tweet: 

Report of United refund call scam on Twitter

The scammers may have been attempting to trick that Twitter user into using the legitimate money transfer app, WorldRemit, to transfer money directly into their account — a brazen scam, if nothing else. 

However, the scammers likely have an additional goal: to get people to share their personal and financial information, which they perhaps intend to sell to cybercriminals/hackers on the dark web and/or use to commit further crimes themselves.  

Be sure to watch out for scam calls such as this one. Also, be aware of the fact that although the scammers spoofed the number 855-977-1975 in many incidents of this scam recently, that’s not to say that they won’t switch to using a different phone number, or even a different fake company name. As always, be vigilant. 

How did the scammers get my phone number? 

If you’ve received a similar call or voicemail and you’re wondering how the scammers were even able to get your phone number in the first place, you’re not alone. They will often get people’s personal info from underground internet forums or the dark web — two places that are hotbeds for stolen/leaked data. 

If you want to find out if your phone number has been leaked, be sure to check out ID Protection. Also, make sure to explore all its other features because it’s packed with lots of them, including Personal Identity Monitoring and Social Media Account Monitoring. If you care about protecting your identity and online privacy, you’ll definitely want to click the button below. 

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This article was published in collaboration with Trend Micro.

Image source: unsplash.com