The holidays are a huge time for buying and giving to loved ones. Unfortunately, this increase in purchasing means there is an increase in phishing and other holiday scams. Phishing is typically targeted towards consumers aiming to collect credentials, credit card or financial information, although companies are also affected since many employees now use their personal devices for business reasons.
The most common forms of scams this time of year are non-delivery; where you pay for something online and never receive it, or non-payment; where the product is being shipped but the seller is never paid. Some tips to avoid this: do not click any suspicious links or emails in attachments or on other platforms/websites and be wary of any websites asking you to update account information.
While you’ve all heard of phishing, don’t forget about smishing this holiday season. SMS phishing is only the first step in these types of attacks. Once the system has been successfully compromised, scammers can then install malware on the targeted devices. This enables them to control device functionality and makes you vulnerable to other attacks. To avoid this, be diligent in your research of any websites you purchase from and be wary of emails or text messages relating to purchases.
Especially during this holiday season look out for any suspicious text messages or emails and employ email filtering. Companies can reduce these threats by patching, using multi-factor authentication whenever possible and incorporating security awareness training to better spot scams. Be extra diligent this time of year, as hackers are becoming more sophisticated and making their scams look more legitimate.
