Avoid These Holiday Scams

Sierra Vista Herald ^

[SandRat]

Tucson — Santa isn’t the only one keeping track of who is naughty and who is nice! Better Business Bureau is warning consumers to beware of these common holiday scams:

Look-alike websites: When shopping online, make sure to use only legitimate websites. Watch out for URLs that use the names of well-known brands along with extra words.

Fake shipping notifications: These can have attachments or links to sites that will download malware on your computer to steal your identity and your passwords. Don’t be fooled by a holiday phishing scam.

[AppyPappy]

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[butlerweave]

I get Fake shipping notifications on my throw away email address all the time ,I would never order anything using that email

[Calpublican]

Sending Christmas checks—the gift that is never returned.

[DJ MacWoW]

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[Iron Munro]

HOLIDAY SCAMS

[ETL]

There are sites out there that ‘appear’ perfectly legit but are totally money-stealing scam sites. They look and feel just like the real deal. I would advise doing a web search on the site if you’re not familiar with it. There are websites specifically established to report and archive consumer complaints. There’s of course also the Better Business Bureau and Consumer Affairs.

http://www.bbb.org/

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/

[mkjessup]

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THAT sounds like a scam to me Pappy.

[Qiviut]

One of the issues with opening attachments is ‘ransomware’ .... can’t happen to you? Think again .... I know one (fairly savy with computers) individual who lost everything on her computer due to ransomware this summer and one business that was down for a week last year.

Here is a tool (FREE version available) that might help prevent this from happening to you:

https://www.foolishit.com/cryptoprevent-malware-prevention/?ModPagespeed=noscript

Bleepingcomputer has some really good articles on this stuff, the old version & the new version (before & after Aug 2014) if you care to read about it - here’s one link to get you started:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/torrentlocker-cryptolocker-ransomware-information#cryptoprevent

I have definitely installed this on the computers of two seniors (80’s) who will click on anything that pops up in their email ... despite numerous warnings.

[mkjessup]

Sending Christmas checks - the gift that is never returned.

"Give people money and they'll leave ya alone,
never let a bald gypsy borrow your comb,
A clinic ain't the best place to pick up dates,
Don't rent a room from a man named 'Bates'..."
~ the late Tim Wilson - '100 Things Every Man Should Know'

[al baby]

Do not buy the Star Shower laser light its a pos had to return two and got my money back

[snarkpup]

E-cards: Electronic cards can be great fun, but be careful. Two red flags to watch out for are: the sender's name is not apparent; you are required to share additional information to get the card.

A couple years ago I got a couple of these from friends. The sender of the second one was a bit peeved that I deleted it unopened. I explained that the other one I got a few days earlier contained nothing but a link to a domain registered in Indonesia, and of course, was not sent by the supposed sender (whose machine had been hacked).

I didn't actually open the first one either. Whenever I get an unexpected email (including from someone I know), I use the mail reader's View Message Source before opening it.

[Calpublican]

All good advice. :)