ANNAPOLIS, Md. — While a party invitation may feel like a refreshing break from the usual flood of spam and promotional emails, cybersecurity specialists are sounding the alarm about a new tactic. Scammers are now using deceptive Evite-style messages to hijack email accounts and steal sensitive information.
The scam often presents itself as harmless. The notification seems to originate from a familiar contact and suggests checking your spam folder for a party invitation. However, clicking on the provided link can grant scammers unrestricted access to your email, allowing them to further disseminate the scam.
Linda Bayer experienced this firsthand.
“I saw an Evite that appeared to be from a neighbor who lives just a few doors away,” Bayer recalled.
When she clicked on the invitation, she found herself on a login page rather than a genuine RSVP platform, mistakenly believing that signing in would grant her access to the invitation details.
“I entered [my login details], but the page didn’t recognize them and didn’t redirect me anywhere. It struck me as strange,” Bayer explained.
She paused there, but just a few days later, her phone and email were inundated with messages.
“I began receiving calls, emails, and texts from people I hadn’t heard from in nearly 15 years, even some old boyfriends still in my contacts,” she said.
Those acquaintances were inquiring whether Bayer had really sent them the Evite. She had not. Scammers had taken over her email account and were messaging her entire contact list, instructing them to search for the invite or check their spam folders.
McAfee points out that this element of trust is what makes such scams particularly effective.
“You’re getting an email from someone you know, which naturally piques your curiosity, especially regarding an Evite,” explained Abhishek Karnik, head of threat research at McAfee.
Although these phishing emails initially refrain from asking for money, Karnik explains that financial gain is typically the ultimate goal.
“It starts off as a basic method for collecting information, which can be exploited by other scammers. They might even sell your data online,” Karnik added.
The more information the scammers gather, the easier it is for them to craft a convincing narrative, eventually leading to potential financial losses. Each compromised account becomes another vehicle for disseminating fake invitations to an expanding network of victims.
“Once they gain access to your account and can spam others, those recipients see emails appearing to originate from your address,” Karnik warned.
WMAR-2 News forwarded the suspicious message to Evite, which confirmed that it had no connection to the fraudulent communication.
Karnik advises individuals to pause and carefully examine URLs before clicking and to visit the website’s “Contact Us” page to check its authenticity. He also warns that scammers can use look-alike characters in web addresses that are difficult to detect.
“Some Russian characters can mimic an English ‘A’, for instance. So while it might look like Apple.com, the ‘A’ isn’t the standard English character,” Karnik said.
For Bayer, what should have been a straightforward RSVP has completely altered her approach to invitations.
“I’m uncertain about how to proceed, but for sure, I won’t be clicking on any more invitations. If you want to invite me to something, just give me a call instead,” she said.
If you suspect you’ve fallen victim to this kind of scam, experts recommend changing your password immediately, notifying your contacts about the breach, and installing scam-detection or security software.
