Scammers are sending fake party invitations that appear to come from trusted contacts, including friends, family members, coworkers, and neighbors.
At first glance, the emails look entirely legitimate, often carrying the sender’s real email signature, phone number, website, and even a personal photo.
The Federal Trade Commission has issued a warning about this phishing scheme, which typically arrives via text or email with a subject line reading “You’re Invited.”
The scam asks recipients to enter their email login credentials in order to open the invitation, which is how fraudsters gain access to accounts.
One of the most alarming aspects of this scheme is that the invitation frequently does originate from a real friend’s genuine email account, not a spoofed address.
The friend likely received the same fake invitation earlier, entered their login details, and unknowingly handed scammers full access to their email account.
Once inside that compromised account, scammers immediately send the same fraudulent invitation to every contact stored there, allowing the scheme to spread rapidly.
Many recipients are fooled because the invitations closely mimic the branding and style of well-known platforms such as Evite or Paperless Post.
Security experts consistently advise consumers that if they were not expecting an invitation, they should not click any link contained within the message under any circumstances.
Instead, recipients should contact the apparent sender through a separate channel, such as a phone call or text message, to confirm whether they actually sent the invitation.
This type of credential-harvesting phishing attack has grown increasingly sophisticated, making it harder for even tech-savvy users to distinguish legitimate messages from fraudulent ones.
The FTC continues to urge Americans to treat unexpected email invitations with caution and to enable two-factor authentication on all email accounts as a basic protective measure.
