For the 5th Scam of Christmas, the criminals gave to me “SANTA IN 3-D”!
During the holidays, friends of mine are always willing to share the latest holiday cuteness via a forwarded email. I have to remain vigilant to be super careful what emails I open up this time of year. Holiday-themed ringtones, e-cards and screensavers can contain malicious code.
If you see email that seems to be from a friend, but it has misspelled words, or the message doesn’t seem like something your friend would say, be cautious. Often times scammers make the messages short and contain a link in the hopes that you will click on the link. That click can either download the malicious file to your computer or it will trick you into giving up your password so they can spam your friends with more of the same sneaky links.
Tips for avoiding this scam:
– Your first line of defense is a comprehensive security suite. Make sure it is set to update automatically so your computer remains protected from the very latest threats.
– Hover your mouse over links in emails and check the lower left corner of the screen for the actual link address. Avoid clicking on links that contain misspelled words or suspicious url’s.
– When searching for holiday freebies, use SiteAdvisor, McAfee’s free add-on that tells you the websites that are safe to visit.
Check out more tips at: http://mcaf.ee/6bh53
Stay safe out there!
By: Tracy Mooney
