Holiday Scams (or Anytime Scams)

As the digital world reels from the constant hacks and intrusions occuring everyday, there are simple things you can look for that will keep you out of harms way.

 

A few scams to keep an eye out for-

 

Charity Phishing Scams

Hackers send fictional emails that appear to be from well known charitable organizations, such as the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and Oxfam that direct consumers to fake websites designed to steal their money. The websites are generally very professional with a fairly high amount of graphical content and a good amount of verbiage designed to make the reader feel upset or guilty.

 

Only donate to organizations using the links on their websites.  Do not click the links in emails soliciting donations.

 

Email Banking Scams

Financial institutions are the most common phishing scam targets. According to the Anti-Phishing Working Group, during the first quarter of 2008, 92% to 94% of all phish scams were financial-services related.

 

 

With these scams, the bad guys send an official-looking email that asks consumers to confirm account information, including their user name and password. These emails often try to fool consumers into thinking that if they don’t comply with the instructions, their account will become invalid. 

Never give your account details out as a result of an email request or you could fall victim to a popular phish scam.

 

Holiday e-cards

Scammers may send you an e-card that appears as if it’s coming from Hallmark asking you to download an attachment to pick up your e-card. However, the attachment isn't really an e-card -- it's malware delivery system that puts a malicious file on your computer.

 

A few clues that an e-card is not legit are spelling mistakes, errors in the message, unknown senders or senders with bogus names and odd-looking URL's.

 

Remember – if in any doubt about the legitimacy of an email,

don’t open it. Never click on anything from an unknown source.