How to stop unwanted calendar invites: Why you get them, how they work, how to prevent it.
Stop unwanted calendar invites
I've been getting unwanted events on my calendar for a while - here's the why and how to stop them.
𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁:
Calendar invites from scammers are a new, sneaky way to get people to click on malicious links or call fake phone numbers. A user recently shared a calendar invite they received for a fake PayPal transaction that looked a lot like a receipt. This kind of calendar spam is a growing problem, and here’s what you need to know about how it works and how to protect yourself.
𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗺: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀
Scammers send mass calendar invites via email. These aren't like regular emails; they're invitations that your calendar app, like Google Calendar, often adds automatically to your schedule. (It can happen through your phone. Long story.) The scammers put the scam text—about a fake charge or an issue with an account—right in the event title or description.
This is effective because it bypasses your email's spam filter. Your calendar automatically accepts the invite, and suddenly you have a fake meeting on your calendar that's actually a scam.
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗜𝘁
You don’t have to get these spam events. Most calendar apps have a setting to stop them from showing up automatically. Here’s how you can check:
Google Calendar: Go to Settings - Event settings. Look for "Add invitations to my calendar" and change it to "No, only show invitations to which I have responded." I show you in my video with my giant ugly glasses. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to help the world. Am I right?
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗼 𝗶𝗳 𝗜𝘁 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗬𝗼𝘂
If you see a suspicious event, don't click on any links (I know you wouldn't), call any numbers, or reply to the invite. Instead, just delete the event and report it as spam if you can. But the truth is you have other things to do. Just don't. Click. Anything.