Phishing scams can happen at any time but they happen more during the holidays. Know what to look for so you don’t become a victim by reading our latest blog post.
Phishing scams are not always the easiest to detect but they are popping up everywhere around the holiday season. While cyber scams and attacks do not wait for the holiday season, they do take advantage of it. This holiday season, protect yourself by knowing what to look out for. Do not let a scam take your money. These are some of the holiday phishing scams to be on the lookout for so you are not Scrooged this season.
Fake Purchase Invoices
More people than ever are purchasing their gifts online. Keep up with where you purchase from and watch out for suspicious emails from stores about purchases you did not make. If you do see an invoice about a purchase you did not make or do not remember making, do not click the links in the email. Instead, log into your online account for the merchant to see if you have a real notification.
Fake Shipping Status Notifications
Just like scammers will take the time to send you fake invoices, they may also send you fake shipping information. The same rules apply with this one: do not open or click the links inside the email. Check the status online with the merchant if you want to track your purchases.
Beware of Email Deals
You may have some legitimate email lists that you are a part of for deals but the ones you need to look out for are the ones that you never signed up for. A lot of email deals are sent throughout the holiday season so only open the ones you trust. If you do see an email deal that looks appealing, instead of clicking the links in the email, go to the merchant and find it directly through them.
Be Careful of Links
Phishing scams rely on being able to trick people into thinking links are legitimate. Take some extra time before clicking on any links. You can do this by hovering your mouse over a link to see if the website is what you think it is. If the website link is something obscure or something you do not recognize, then you should not click it at all. It is likely a phishing scam.
Watch Your Bank Accounts
This may seem like something that you should already know but during the holidays, people are spending a lot of money. That means that you may easily lose track of the amount you have spent and can easily not notice if more money has been taken out of your account. Keep a close eye on your transactions for any that you did not make just to make sure you have not been a victim.
Avoid Fake Surveys
Another common thing that happens around this time of year are fake surveys. They may be promising a gift card for participation and it may be tempting. However, a lot of these surveys are not legitimate and are setting out to get some personal information about you. They may have simple questions at first then change to personal information. If they have this information, they can create a more sophisticated phishing attack and that is something you want to avoid at all costs.
This holiday season, you do not want your information stolen. There are a lot of scams occurring all over the internet but with the right information, you can know what to look for and what steps to take to avoid being a victim. For more information, contact PNJ Technology Partners in Albany via (518) 459-6712 or info@pnjtechpartners.com.
