Fake party invites from Paperless Post and Evite used in phishing scam, FTC warns
A wave of phishing emails impersonating invitation platforms like Paperless Post and Evite has been spreading contacts' names to trick recipients into entering email or phone credentials to view fake event details. Journalist Eric Umansky was among early victims, waking to messages asking about a party he never planned, despite having two-factor authentication enabled on his account. The FTC issued a consumer alert in May after receiving a rise in reports of the scam.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The incident illustrates how phishing scams increasingly exploit real social connections and platform trust rather than obvious spam tactics, making them harder to detect even for security-conscious users. It suggests that account compromises can spread through a person's contact network in ways that two-factor authentication alone may not prevent, raising questions about how invitation platforms verify and protect user data.
- Scammers are impersonating Evite and Paperless Post to send fake party invites that harvest email or phone credentials.
- The FTC issued a consumer alert in May 2024 after a rise in reports of this phishing scheme.
- Even users with two-factor authentication, like journalist Eric Umansky, have been targeted, showing the scam's sophistication.
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Published there as: “Party Invite Phishing Scams Are the New Missed Connections”
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