12 Online SCAMS of Christmas - Stay Safe this Holiday Seasons

Be cautious with different scams this coming holiday season - Stay safe and be informed

McAfee blog listed 12 holiday related scams this coming Christmas season. Be aware and stay safe because online holiday shopping are expected to increase in the coming weeks as well as cyber-criminals activities.

To always protect yourself this holiday season, practice safe surfing, safe shopping, be careful before clicking, install antivirus and anti-spam software, use strong passwords and always educate yourself about latest threats and scams.


12 Online SCAMS of Christmas

1. Social Media Scams - Filipinos like to use social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter so, beware of scams and malicious links you see in your friend's friend post and be careful when liking Fan pages.

2. Malicious Mobile Apps - with growing smartphone users such as affordable Android phones for as low as P3,000, be careful when downloading potential malicious free apps in unofficial app stores and websites.

3. Travel Scams - Do you want to spend with your family on provinces or other country this Christmas? Beware of rock bottom prices and instead of great savings , you end up losing your hard earned money in too good to be true deals.

4. Holiday Spam/ Phishing - expect to see an increase of spam and phishing emails this holiday season. Never respond or click any link on this emails.

5. Holiday Gift Scams - be aware and cautious of hot holiday gift items especially at extremely low prices.

6. Skype Message Scare - the popularity of Skype around the world becomes opportunities for cyber-criminals  Beware of instant messages scam like "is this your new profile pic?" If you click on the included link, a Trojan downloads into you PC.

7. Fake Charities - be alert on fake charities. Before donating, visit legitimate charity website and do a little research about the charity.

8. Holiday SMiShing - It's phishing via text message to divulge personal information. Never reveal information on this phishing text messages.

9. Phony E-tailers - be alert of bogus e-commerce sites,usually after you pay they never send your merchandise.

10. Bogus Gift Cards - be wary of buying gift cards from third parties, it's best to buy from official retailer.

11. Dangerous E-cards - You like to send and receive e-cards this Christmas? Be cautious that it does not contain spyware and viruses. Make sure that it comes from official e-card site.

12. Phony Classifieds - beware of online classified sites that asked too much personal information and ask you to wire funds via Western Union, most likely they are scams

Source:
McAfee Blog
Christmas Tree Photo


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