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Consumer : Cyber Security Mom :

The 12 Scams of Christmas: A recipe for keeping you safe online this holiday season

Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 10:49pm by Archive
Archive

It is that time of year again, chestnuts are roasting, the dreidel will be spinning and everyone is going over the river to Grandma’s house. You know what that means? It is also the time for McAfee’s Twelve Scams of Christmas – the most popular online attacks for the 2009 holiday season. Here are some highlights from this report.

1. Fake invoices from delivery services. This scam looks like a delivery notice or invoice from Fed Ex, UPS or U.S. Customs Service. They send an email saying they need a credit card number to give a credit or require you to open an online account to receive your package.

2. Social Networking. Beware of authentic looking “New Friend Request” e-mails from social networking sites. Clicking on links in these e-mails can automatically install malware on computers and steal personal information.

3. Holiday e-cards. I have been thinking a lot about sending out holiday e-cards this year. I am concerned about the environment and am looking for new ways to go green (we already converted to an artificial tree a few years ago). Last year, McAfee Labs found a worm in fake Hallmark e-cards and fake McDonald’s and Coca Cola holiday promotions. Holiday-themed PowerPoint e-mail attachments are also popular among cybercriminals.

ecard_spam

4. Christmas Carol Lyrics. As I have mentioned in previous blogs (link) music lyrics can be dangerous to search for on the Internet. I know the desire can be great to download holiday wallpaper, ringtones and festive screensavers. Unfortunately McAfee found that some sites download more than holiday cheer on to your computer – they can contain viruses, adware and spyware.

5. Outbidding for crime/auction site fraud. I met a man once who told me that he bought his car on e-Bay, got a great deal on it. Unfortunately, his neighbor decided to do the same (keeping up with the Joneses, as it were…) and lost $4000 in the deal. It seems the neighbor bid on one car and lost. A few days later they got an email saying that a similar car was up for auction with a link. They clicked on the link and thought they were bidding on E-bay. Unfortunately it was a fake site.

According to Consumer Reports’ 2009 State of the Net Survey, cybercriminals have bilked $8 billion from consumers in the past two years. Now that you are aware of the scams, you can avoid these potential pitfalls and keep your money where it belongs.

Remember…

…Always be SUPER careful when clicking on links in emails even if they come from friends. URLs links, jpeg and .ppt files can all be malware in disguise.

…Download Site Advisor to use in conjunction with your comprehensive antivirus software. This tool gives you a “green light” when websites and links are free of malware, spam and adware.

By the way, the Grinch Who Stole Christmas was on this past weekend and it reminded me of a website I came across. I thought you might like to read “Spam I Am”. http://www.seuss.org/seuss/spam.i.am.html

Have you experienced a holiday scam? If so, share your story with me. Send an email to cybermom@mcafee.com.

Tracy
Send me a tweet @ McafeeCyberMom
cybermom@mcafee.com

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Comments (2)

  • Tracy December 3, 2009 5:02PM

    Hi Leslie,

    Just go with a reputable brand and you don\’t have to worry about sending e-greetings. The problem is the emails that say \

    Reply
  • Leslie December 1, 2009 6:55AM

    Thanks, Tracy. I just shared this with my parents, who keep getting viruses on their computer.

    About electronic xmas cards, what are we to do? If I send them, people won\’t want to open them. But I\’d prefer to send them. I guess we should email them from our individual accounts rather than letting the card server do it for us. Hmm.

    Reply