You get a text, email or app notification saying you’ve just paid $718.90 for a new laptop. You didn’t buy a laptop. The message says that if it wasn’t you, call this number straight away before the money leaves your account.
That phone number is the scam.
How it works
The fake purchase is usually something expensive, often between $300 and $2,000: a phone, a laptop, antivirus software, plane tickets or cryptocurrency. The message may look like it’s from a name you trust, such as PayPal, Microsoft, Norton, McAfee or Apple, and it may even include your real name, email or address.
The goal is to make you worried enough to call. When you do, a friendly “support agent” answers and offers to cancel the order. Then they might:
- ask for your card or bank details to “refund” you
- say they refunded you too much by mistake, and ask you to send the difference back
- ask you to install an app so they can “fix” your computer, which lets them see and control it
- ask you to buy gift cards to “help catch the scammers”
Warning signs
- A purchase or payment you don’t recognise
- A phone number shown clearly, with an instruction to call if it wasn’t you
- A large amount designed to make you panic
- A short deadline before the money is “taken”
Stop. Check. Protect.
Stop. Don’t call the number in the message, and don’t reply. Never share passwords, codes, card details or gift card numbers with someone who contacted you.
Check. Open the official app, or type the company’s website address yourself, and look at your real orders and payments. If you need to call, find the number on the official website, not in the message.
Protect. If you’ve already called, paid or given access to your computer, contact your bank straight away using the number on the back of your card, and visit Scamwatch for what to do next.
Practise spotting it
Try the free Scam phone calls module on SITP Cyber Aware. The scenario “Call back about a purchase you didn’t make” shows exactly how this scam plays out.
Source: Scamwatch alert, “Fake purchase callback scams“, July 2026.
Practise spotting scams like this for free on SITP Cyber Aware.
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