Popular local bakery warns of scam targeting customers on social media

OAKWOOD — Ashley’s Pastry Shop, a Dayton-area staple, is warning its customers of a recent scam circulating on social media.

The bakery came up with a fun way to connect with customers using “Ashley’s-related trivia.”

“It was a promotion on guess how many glazed croissants we typically make on a Saturday. They’re our most popular donut,” said Theresa Hammons, owner of Ashley’s Pastry Shop.

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Typically, the first to comment correctly wins a prize. In this case, a pack of their popular glazed croissants proved so popular it attracted some unwanted attention.

“Unfortunately scammers got a hold of that post and they posted a link for people to then go on, follow their link and they were asking some questions and information that we would have never, never asked for,” Hammons said.

The account says “Ashley’s Pastry Shop” and even has the same profile picture, but once you click on it, the main difference is the amount of followers.

It’s a trick scammers use to get personal information, including credit card numbers.

“We do know that it happens all the time,” said John North, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau in Dayton.

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North says this tactic is called cloning, but they haven’t seen anything quite like this.

Cloning is when someone finds your account and takes your public information, such as your name and profiles pictures, and creates another account that looks just like yours.

One of the best ways to protect yourself is to check your privacy settings.

“Make as little stuff as possible public,” North said. “You want to protect that for not just your sake but for the sake of your friends.”

He continued by saying “Slow down and think ‘would they be sending you this kind of information and would they be talking to you like this?’”

While Hammons admits she’s no computer whiz, she says she sees the value in slowing down too.

“People just really don’t always read all those fine details, you know, and maybe just if people can take a closer look at what people are asking, and kind of that stop and think for a moment,” Hammons said.

Hammons has spoken to many of her customers and believes no one’s information was compromised.

They have taken steps to prevent this from happening again, but Hammons says nothing, not even scammers, will stop her from connecting with her customers.

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