Email Scam Tries To Snag Tuscaloosa Food Truck Operators

Email scams use deceptive messages (phishing) to trick persons receiving them into revealing personal information, clicking malicious links, or sending money. The Tuscaloosa River Market has discovered one that is attempting to trick food truck operators.

The email tells truck owners that the market needs another food truck, but the clue to the email's lack of veracity is the amount money asked for. The charge is three times what the River Market normally asks. Similar scam emails have gone to food truck operators in other cities.

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The Tuscaloosa River Market discovered the scam attempt over this past weekend when manager Alexis Clark was contacted by an area truck owner informing her of the email they had received.

Clark then issued a "Scam Alert" on the River Market's Facebook site, "There is a scammer inviting food trucks to our market and asking them to pay $120 per Saturday for the month of January. Her name is Eunice Pells and the email she is using is EunicePells055@gmail.com or roseunusual490@gmail.com. Do NOT engage with this individual. Block the email. They are not associated with our market!" her posted warned.

Clark has notified the Tuscaloosa Police Department about the scammer's email.

If you receive a suspicious email, there are several things you need to do:

• Check for misspellings or free email providers (like @gmail.com) instead of the company's official domain.
• Generic Greetings: "Dear Customer" instead of your name.
• Urgency & Threats: Demands for immediate action, threats to close your account, or urgent warnings.
• Suspicious Links: Hover over links to see the actual URL; it might not match the text.
• Requests for Unusual Payments: Asking for gift cards or wire transfers is a major red flag.
• If the email looks suspicious, do not call any numbers listed on the email. Find the actual number of any company mentioned in the email to determine legitimacy.

Alabamians experienced the highest average loss from email scams per victim nationwide at around $50,600, with phishing often cited as a primary method.

See the Office of Information Technology, State of Alabama website for more internet security information.