The Frauds And Scams of Holiday And Christmas You Must Not Fall For.
Hello Readers, It is the season for Holiday... Christmas - and of course... shopping online, but cyber criminals are as busy as any stock warehouse because they try to use the holiday season psychology to entice online shoppers to part with sensitive information. Here are some duplicitous tactics that security specialist McAfee warns gift seekers to look out for.
1. Social media scams — Be careful when clicking or liking posts, while taking advantage of raffle contests and fan page deals that you get from your 'friends' that advertise the hottest holiday gifts; also be aware of installing apps to receive discounts and of your friends’ accounts being hacked and sending out fake alerts. Twitter ads and special discounts utilise blind, shortened links, many of which could easily be malicious.2. Malicious mobile apps:
As the popularity of applications has grown, so have the chances that you could download a malicious application designed to steal your information or even send out premium-rate text messages without your knowledge. In October some 80,000 Chrome users were tricked as fake versions of Bad Piggies scooped up personal data.
3. Travel scams — Before you book your flight or hotel to head home to see your loved ones for the holidays, keep in mind that the scammers are looking to hook you with too-good-to-be-true deals. Phony travel webpages, sometimes using your preferred company, with beautiful pictures and rock-bottom prices are used to get you to hand over your financial details.
4. Holiday spam/phishing — Many of these spam emails can take on holiday themes. Cheap Rolex watches and pharmaceuticals may be advertised as the 'perfect gift' for that special someone.
5. iPhone 5, iPad mini and other hot holiday gift scams - The kind of buzz surrounding Apple’s new iPhone 5 or iPad mini is just what cybercrooks dream of when they plot their scams. They will mention must-have holiday gifts in dangerous links, phony contests (example: 'Free iPad') and phishing emails as a way to grab computer users’ attention to get them to reveal personal information or click on a dangerous link that could download malware onto their machine.
6. Skype message scare —
People around the world will use Skype to connect with loved ones this holiday season, but they should be aware of a new Skype message scam that attempts to infect their machine, and even hold their files for ransom.
7. Bogus gift cards — Be wary of buying gift cards from third parties; just imagine how embarrassing it would be to find out that the gift card you gave your mother-in-law was fraudulent.
8. Holiday SMiShing — 'SMiSishing' is phishing via text message. Just like with email phishing, the scammer tries to lure you into revealing information or performing an action you normally wouldn’t do by pretending to be a legitimate organisation.
9. Phony e-tailers – Phony e-commerce sites, that appear real, try to lure you into typing in your credit card number and other personal details, often by promoting great deals. But, after obtaining your money and information, you never receive the merchandise, and your personal information is put at risk.
10. Fake charities — This is one of the biggest scams of every holiday season. As we open up our hearts and wallets, the bad guys hope to get in on the giving by sending spam emails advertising fake charities.
11. Dangerous e-cards — E-cards are a popular way to send a quick 'thank you' or holiday greeting, but some are malicious and may contain spyware or viruses that download onto your computer once you click on the link to view the greeting.
7. Bogus gift cards — Be wary of buying gift cards from third parties; just imagine how embarrassing it would be to find out that the gift card you gave your mother-in-law was fraudulent.
8. Holiday SMiShing — 'SMiSishing' is phishing via text message. Just like with email phishing, the scammer tries to lure you into revealing information or performing an action you normally wouldn’t do by pretending to be a legitimate organisation.
9. Phony e-tailers – Phony e-commerce sites, that appear real, try to lure you into typing in your credit card number and other personal details, often by promoting great deals. But, after obtaining your money and information, you never receive the merchandise, and your personal information is put at risk.
10. Fake charities — This is one of the biggest scams of every holiday season. As we open up our hearts and wallets, the bad guys hope to get in on the giving by sending spam emails advertising fake charities.
11. Dangerous e-cards — E-cards are a popular way to send a quick 'thank you' or holiday greeting, but some are malicious and may contain spyware or viruses that download onto your computer once you click on the link to view the greeting.
12- Phony classifieds:
Online classified sites may be a great place to look for holiday gifts and part-time jobs, but beware of phony offers that ask for too much personal information or ask you to wire funds via Western Union, since these are most likely scams.
