Just because it is holiday time does not mean that everyone has good intent. Without obsessing over the bad possibilities, you should be knowledgeable regarding the common scams so you can take the appropriate precautions.
The 12 web SCAMS of Xmas
CHRISTMAS may be the time for goodwill and peace to all men and women - but not if you're a cybercriminal.
They prefer receiving to giving and the only presents they're interested in are your personal details and bank account passwords.
The festive season is a boom time for hackers, and over the past two end-of-year holiday periods, cybercriminals have made nearly £5 BILLION according to security experts McAfee.
Senior vice president Jeff Green said: "They use their best schemes during the holidays to steal people's money, credit card information and identity. These thieves follow seasonal trends and create holiday-related websites, scams and other convincing e-mails that can trick even the most cautious users."
The risk of falling prey is small, especially if you follow the few simple tips at the end of this page.
But just remember, when bargain offers seem too good to be true, it's probably because they are. And because an email looks as innocent as little children singing Christmas carols, it doesn't mean it is.
So to help keep you safe ahead of December 25, here's the top 12 scams of Christmas as found by McAfee.
1) Charity Phishing Scams - hackers take advantage of people's generosity by sending e-mails that appear to be from legitimate charitable organisations. In reality, they are linked to fake websites designed to steal donations, credit card information and the identities of donors.
2) Fake Invoices from Delivery Services to steal your money - if you didn't buy it, then you won't receive an alert about it. So be very wary of emails that seem to be receipts or delivery notifications for stuff you've supposed to have bought. Many ask you to quote credit card details or open the forms. Either can allow a virus or Trojan Horse into your computer to steal your personal information.
3) Social Networking - when you suddenly receive an invite from a stranger to be your friend, then you know there's something dodgy going on. They're not just hoping for a kiss under the mistletoe. Cybercriminals send authentic-looking "New Friend Request" e-mails and clicking on the links can install viruses automatically on your desktop or laptop. If in doubt, leave them out.
4) Christmas E-Cards - Last Christmas, McAfee uncovered a virus masked as Hallmark e-cards, McDonald's promotions and a Coca-Cola Christmas offer. Christmas-themed PowerPoint e-mail attachments with funny virals and quizzes are also popular among cybercriminals. Be careful what you click on.
5) "Luxury" Holiday Jewellery - a new holiday campaign leads shoppers to virus-ridden sites offering "discounted" luxury gifts from Cartier, Gucci, and Tag Heuer. It may look cheap, but it will be one of the most expensive mistakes you ever make.
6) Practice Safe Holiday Shopping - if you shop and surf on open hotspots using WiFi, hackers can spy on your activity and copy personal information. McAfee advises shoppers to steer clear of using public computers or via an open WiFi network.
7) Christmas Carol Lyrics Can Be Dangerous - bogus websites are often set up to cash-in on popular searches. So just because you don't know the words to Silent Night or want a Jingle Bells ringtone, it doesn't mean the website offering either via a search engine will be safe. It can lead to adware, spyware and other potentially unwanted programs being installed.
8) Out of Work - with many UK adults victims of the recession and now unemployed, there's an upward trend of emails promising work over the holidays or money to be earned from home. When you submit your details, and pay a "set-up" fee, you could be setting up a whole lot of trouble.
9) Auction Site Fraud - auction websites can be problematic all year round but at Christmas cybercriminals flock to them to lure unsuspecting buyers. Often goods will never reach their new owner or turn out to be something completely different, or even fake.
10) Password Stealing Scams - thieves use low-cost tools to uncover a person's password and send out malware to record keystrokes as they type. It is called keylogging. Once criminals have access to one or more passwords, they gain vast access to consumers' bank and credit card details and clean out accounts within minutes. They also commonly send out spam from a user's account to their contacts to entice more victims.
11) E-Mail Banking Scams - cybercriminals trick consumers into divulging their bank details by sending official-looking e-mails from financial institutions. They ask users to confirm their account information, including a user name and password, with a warning that their account will become invalid if they do not comply. Then they often sell this information through an underground online black market.
12) Your Files for Ransom - hackers gain control of computers through several of these holiday scams. They then act as virtual kidnappers to hijack computer files and encrypt them, making them unreadable and inaccessible. The scammer holds the user's files ransom by demanding payment in exchange for getting them back.
If you've read all that and now feel more scared than Scrooge being visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, you'd be right to be wary.
But here's some tips that should keep you safe and ensure you have a Merry Christmas this year and next.
- Never click on links in e-mails, go directly to a company or charity's website by typing in the address.
- Ensure security software is up-to-date. It is the easiest way to protect your computer from malware, spyware, viruses and other threats such as phishing.
- Shop and bank on secure networks. WiFi networks used should always be password-protected so hackers cannot gain access to them and spy on online activity. Also shop on sites using secure URLs for their transactions that begin with https://, instead of http://.
- Use different passwords. Never use the same passwords for several online accounts. Diversify passwords and use a complex combination of letters, numbers and symbols.
- Try common sense. If you are ever in doubt that an offer or product is not legitimate, do not click on it.
Source: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/fun/gizmo/2747575/12-online-scams-to-watch-out-for-while-online-Christmas-shopping.html
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