As the holiday season is upon us, scammers become more active on-line. Knowing very well that on-line shopping increases during this time of year, scammers shift their focus from unpaid invoices and Office365 password resets to gift related phishing scams.
The FBI warns us that on top of the typical work-from-home scams, charity scams, on-line shopping scams and COVID19 scams, holidays scams are designed around our holiday experiences.
Charity Scams – ‘Tis the time of giving (and taking if you are a crook). Cybercriminals pull on our holiday heartstrings, so be on the lookout for fraudulent charity requests. Research the charity before you donate as due diligence can save you from this type of holiday fraud.
Shipping Scams – Watch out for fraudulent package notifications and undeliverable package notifications that look almost identical to the real thing. If you have a hard time discerning, take our free cyber security awareness seminar offered quarterly, free of charge. We show you how to easily spot fake e-mails and help you avoid being scammed.
Fake On-Line Stores – No doubt every year new Web sites pop up hoping to take in on-line orders (and money) then disappear. You can easily see how long a Web site has been around by visiting https://lookup.icann.org and entering the Web site’s URL. Scroll down to see the Web site’s creation date as shown in the image above.