Top 5 Holiday Cyber Scams—Provides Tips to Protect Money and Identity
Written by KnowBe4
Wednesday, 05 December 2012
With the holidays just around the corner, shoppers are more prone to falling victim to cybercrime; KnowBe4 reveals the top scams and tips to keep your money and personal information safe.
(Clearwater, FL) December 5, 2012 – Even though nearly
everyone has gone through difficult economic times, spending is in the air; the
2012 holiday season is predicted to see a spending increase of three to four
percent over last year’s sales of $471.5 billion (1). Due to the convenience of
online shopping, people may easily forget the safety precautions for preventing
cybercrime. KnowBe4 (http://www.knowbe4.com/), an internet
security awareness training firm, is helping people protect their money and
personal data by addressing the top five cyber scams and offering tips to
prevent them.
KnowBe4’s 2012 Tips for Avoiding Holiday Scams:
Number 1—The Evil Wi-Fi Twin
Scam: Cybercriminals put out a
Wi-Fi signal that looks similar to a free one that you always use. Choose the
wrong Wi-Fi, and the hacker can steal credit card data while you’re shopping
online.
Tip: When using a Wi-Fi
connection in public, never give out your credit card information.
Number 2—The Search Term Trap
Scam: Hackers build sites that
profess to have high-demand items. That site gets pushed onto the search
engines and people may click on links that go to the site. That site contains
malware and will infect your PC.
Tip: Make sure that your web
browser is fully updated and will warn you if a site is unsafe.
Number 3—The Fake Recession Relief
Scam: Internet swindlers target
people who are vulnerable, due to the recession, with pay-in-advance scams and
credit offers. Spam emails advertise “prequalified, super low-interest” credit
cards and loans if you pay a processing fee which goes straight into the
scammer’s pocket.
Tip: Learn the guidelines of how
to spot a harmful email.
Number 4—The Extra Holiday Money Fraud
Scam: Cyber-fraudsters are
offering work-from-home scams. They will get people to fill out a form which
requests confidential information (such as your Social Security number), so they
can then steal your identity.
Tip: Never provide confidential
information unless the web site is credible and has been verified as safe.
Number 5—The DM (Direct Message) Scam
Scam: After you’ve tweeted about
an item for your holiday wish list, a direct message (DM) from another twitter
user offering to sell the same item may appear.
Tip: Stop, Look, Think—because
this could very well be a sophisticated scam. If you do not know that person,
be careful before you continue, and never pay up front.
While shoppers need to be cautious during the holidays, KnowBe4 advises that
people and businesses should be trained on how to prevent cyberattacks at home
or in the office, no matter the time of the year.
“Online shopping is vulnerable to cyberattacks, and people need to understand
that it happens in homes, as well as businesses, due to lack of training,”
commented Stu Sjouwerman, CEO and founder of KnowBe4.
KnowBe4 is committed to protecting businesses and local governments against
cybercrime. Its latest efforts have been accomplished through a partnership
with security consultant Kevin Mitnick (“The World’s Most Wanted Hacker”),
wherein they developed Kevin
Mitnick Security Training (http://www.knowbe4.com/products/kevin-mitnick-security-awareness-training/).
The training is interactive and web-based, and includes case studies, live
demonstration videos and short tests. KnowBe4 uses knowledge of the latest
cybercrime tactics in real-time to train its clients’ employees, ranging from
credit unions to hospitals and insurance corporations.
Information on cybersecurity can be found in Cyberheist, the latest
book written by Sjouwerman. Cyberheist provides the data that allows
for setting new security policies, and ensuring that such policies are applied
in a secure manner while not causing the organization's productivity to suffer.
The book includes policies that inform employees about cybercrime prevention
and help to keep businesses thriving.
Stu
Sjouwerman (http://www.knowbe4.com/about-us/) is
the founder and CEO of KnowBe4, LLC, which provides web-based Internet Security
Awareness Training (ISAT) to small and medium-sized enterprises. A data
security expert with more than 30 years in the IT industry, Sjouwerman was the
co‑founder of Inc. 500 company Sunbelt Software, an award-winning anti-malware
software company that he and his partner sold to GFI Software in 2010.
Realizing that the human element of security was being seriously neglected,
Sjouwerman decided to help entrepreneurs tackle cybercrime tactics through
advanced security
awareness training (www.knowbe4.com).
He and his colleagues work with companies in many different industries,
including highly-regulated fields such as healthcare, finance and insurance.
Sjouwerman is the author of four books, with his latest being Cyberheist:
The Biggest Financial Threat Facing American Businesses Since the Meltdown of
2008. Visit www.knowbe4.com or www.knowbe4.com/cyberheist-the-book/.
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