I mentioned Google Calendar scams on the show. The response was enormous. Here’s everything you wanted to know.

March 26, 2026

By Kim Komando

When I mentioned Google Calendar scams on the show last week, my inbox lit up. You wanted more. Here it is. Because this one is sneakier than almost anything I’ve covered recently, and the fix is genuinely simple once you know it exists.

📅 The invite you never asked for

By default, Google Calendar automatically adds meeting invitations to your schedule the moment they arrive. Doesn’t matter whether you know the sender. The event appears on your calendar, sitting right between your dentist appointment and your kid’s soccer game, looking completely legitimate.

Scammers figured this out. They blast fake invites with titles designed to trigger panic. “Invoice Overdue.” “Payment Required.” “Account Suspended.” The description contains a link that looks like it goes to a real Google page. It doesn’t.

One tap and you’re on a cloned sign-in page. You type your email and password. The scammer now has your Google account. Gmail. Drive. Photos. Every saved password. Everything.

Here’s what makes it particularly nasty. Because the invites come through Google’s own servers, they sail right past spam filters. Your inbox never sees it. It lands directly on your calendar like it belongs there.

Researchers tracked one campaign that hit 300 organizations with more than 4,000 fake invites in just four weeks. The attacks surged through 2025 and show no signs of slowing in 2026.

🔒 The fix. Right now.

On Google Calendar desktop:

1. Open Google Calendar and click the gear icon at top right.
2. Click Settings. Under Event Settings, find Add invitations to my calendar.
3. Change it to “When I respond to the invitation in email.”
4. Under View Options, uncheck Show declined events.

Done. Strangers can no longer drop things onto your calendar without your approval.

On iPhone: Go to Settings > Apps > Calendar > Calendar Accounts and delete any calendar subscriptions you don’t recognize.

FYI, if you spot a suspicious event already on your calendar, do not click anything. Don’t even click decline. Go to the three-dot menu and hit Report as spam first. Clicking decline signals the scammer that your address is active and worth targeting again.

Phew, invisible calendars, that’s something you don’t see every day.

👉 Know someone who uses Google Calendar? Forward this before they find out the hard way. Or use the share links below.