Well, considering the online shopping deals promoted each Holiday Season these days, increased user activity on internet (shopping, email, social media, etc.), and recent news of retail data breaches, we thought it would be a good time to discuss some tips and advice for keeping yourself protected against scams during this time of year. McAfee security firm recently posted an article “12 scams of the holidays” list discussing Holiday scams to look out for and safety tips that we thought was good information.
Several items are mentioned in the article, including: Email phishing, Fake holiday shopping shipping notifications, Deceptive advertising, Charity scams, Mobile App scams, Fake calls from Banks (Robocalls), Malicious holiday E-Cards, ATM skimming, and a few other things to keep an eye out for and stay vigilante.
Some tips offered by McAfee are: Analyzing apps before downloading them and download from a trusted source such as an official app store and not a third party source. Doing a bit of research when shopping online, and make sure websites are legitimate ones. Banking carefully and check your credit card statements thoroughly. Stay informed on latest cyber threats, data breaches, etc.
To read the article discussing these safety tips in more detail by McAfee.com – Click Here
Basically, use common sense when opening emails or advertisement offers, avoid clicking on suspicious links, keep your online accounts secure with good passwords (we recommend different passwords for separate accounts), and keep your computer system up to date with security updates and anti-virus applications.