24 Costco Scams Going Around Right Now

Millions of people view Costco as a shopping paradise, but that doesn’t make it immune to the scams that plague the rest of the world.

In fact, on its website, Costco lists 24 scams that currently are making the rounds — which is up from 13 when we checked in 2021 and 22 in 2023.

The list of nefarious schemes is as follows:

1. Fraudulent Websites
2. Fraudulent Cart Notification
3. Fraudulent Autumn Giveaway Email
4. Fraudulent Facebook Offer
5. Fraudulent Survey Text
6. Fraudulent Satisfaction Survey
7. Fraudulent Facebook Post
8. Fraudulent Survey
9. Texts Regarding Loyalty Reward
10. Overcharge Reimbursement Texts
11. Survey with Exclusive Offers
12. Free Television
13. Exclusive Giveaway
14. Fake Interview Confirmation
15. Fraudulent Executive Rewards Redemption
16. Citi Rewards Direct Deposit Scam
17. Redeem your gift card!
18. Supermarket Customer Sweepstakes Raffle Draw
19. Text Survey
20. USPS Scam
21. Letter Survey
22. Fraudulent Executive Member Reward Email
23. Fraudulent Free Samsung TV Email
24. Fraudulent Halloween Marketing Survey Email

If you go the Costco website, you can see examples of what the scams look like when they are sent in messages. They can arrive via emails, texts and Facebook posts.

Costco says if you get any messages centering on the themes listed above, you should not click on any links in the messages. Also, do not provide any personal information to the entity that sent the messages.

Unfortunately, scams are nothing new. As Money Talks News founder Stacy Johnson has noted, we all fall victim to some type of rip-off at one time or another:

“These experiences can be costly and, frankly, kind of humiliating. You find yourself wondering why you didn’t see it coming.”

The good news is that simply being aware of your very human tendency to fall for fraud actually can help to protect you from it. Stacy offers some great tips for staying safe in “10 Golden Rules to Avoid Getting Scammed.”