Discuss Christmasscamsat http://www.facebook.com/webusermagazine 11 -26December 2019 51Delivery-status
emails
ThetwoweeksbeforeChristmas
invariablyinvolvearushofonline
shopping,whichmakesithardtokeep
trackofwhatyou’vebought,wherefrom
andwhenit’sduetoarrive.Fraudsters
exploitthishectictimebysending
emailssupposedlyaboutyourorder,
eitheralertingyoutoa‘problem’that
needstoberesolvedorinvitingyouto
trackyourpackageonline,thendirecting
youtologintoaphishingsitethatsteals
yourdetails.Alwayscheckthesender’s
emailaddressandneverclickalinkin
thesemessages–godirectlytothe
onlinestoreordeliverycompany’s
websiteandsigninthereinstead.
Mysterye-cards
andgiftcards
Whenyoureceiveananonymousemail
thatreads“Afriendhassentyou a
Christmase-card/giftcard”, it’s natural
towonderwhoisbehindthelovely
surprise.Sadly,theanswerisoften a
scammer, whowantsyoutoclickthe
linktoopenyourcardsotheycaninfect
youwithmalwareorharvestyour data.
Similarly,you mayreceivea‘receipt’
foragiftcardthatyoudon’t remember
buying,whicheitherpromptsyouto
openaninfectedattachmentorcancel
thefakepurchasebyprovidingyour
creditcarddetails.
Ineithercase,youshouldignoreand
deletethemessage,andnotclick
anythinginorattachedtotheemail.Fakeonline
charities
AsChristmasisatimeofgiving,we’re
morelikelytohelpthoselessfortunate
thanourselvesthroughcharitable
donations.Fraudstersarekeentocash
inonthisfestivegenerosityandmayset
upwebpagesforfakecharities,create
social-mediacampaignstoraisemoney
fornon-existentcausesorevenusea
realcharity’snametofunneldonations
intotheirownaccounts,andthenflee.
YoucansearchadatabaseofUK-
registeredcharitiesatCharityChoice
(www.charitychoice.co.uk),but
otherwiseuseyourcommonsenseto
verifywhoyou’regivingmoneyto.
Don’trespondtorequeststodonate
throughamoney-transfercompany
suchasWesternUnionorMoneyGram,
andvisitacharity’swebsitedirectly
ratherthanbyclickingalink.Social-media
scams
Peopletendtosharemoreonsocial
mediaoverthefestiveperiod,from
amusingChristmasvideosand
animationstobargainsfoundwhile
shoppingonlineandevenpleasfor
financialhelp,whichcanmakeitharder
toidentifyscams.Bygainingaccessto
someone’ssocialaccount,hackerscan
postandsend messages asthatperson,andfooltheirfriendsintoopeningor
sharingmaliciouslinks,entering
personaldataandspreadingspamfrom
theiraccounts.Youshouldthereforebe
extracautiousaboutwhatyouclickor
taponFacebook,Twitterandother
socialnetworksandmessagingapps
overChristmas.Ifamessagefroma
friendseemsunusualoragiveaway
lookstoogoodtobetrue,don’ttouchit
–and,ifyoudogetfooled,changeyour
accountpasswordimmediately.Malicious
mobileapps
WhatbetterwaytogetintheChristmas
moodthanseasonalmusic,games,
wallpapers,dancingelvesandother
festivefun?There’scertainlyno
shortageofsuchappsavailablefor
AndroidandiOSbut,sadly,someare
designedtospreadmalwareratherthan
goodwill,and aremore“no nono”than
“hohoho”.Afewyearsago,for
example,ahackinggroupcalled
Santa-APTused
Christmas-themed
appstostealdata
from phonesand
capturevictims’
surroundings using
theircamerasand
microphones.As
ever,youshould
onlyinstall apps
fromofficialapp
stores.Evenon
GooglePlay(whichhassufferedseveral
securityscaresrecently), checkthe
reviews,developerdetailsand
permissionsbeforedownloading.Credit:CloudSekDon’tfallfor
Xmas scams
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