Christmas is one of the most beautiful times of the year for many for several reasons. However, they are also a good time for cybercriminals to do theirs. This is because many contents are exchanged with loved ones to congratulate the parties or because many purchases are made through the Internet. For this and other reasons, today we will detail what are the 8 Christmas scams that are going to try to strain you at this time of year. Open your eyes wide!
If you see any of these Christmas scams, don’t go ahead
The most common scams are easily recognizable, although they also remain quite effective. The OSI has compiled the 8 most common that we can see on these dates:
Dangerous Christmas congratulations
This is one of the most common, but also quite effective . We usually receive a Christmas greeting by email asking us to click on a link or when opening an attachment. Obviously, we can imagine what will happen if we do.
Malicious applications
Before downloading a “Christmas” application we must check many things. For example, we must see who develops it, its assessment or the comments of other users, but above all, the permissions requested. It makes no sense that an application to create Christmas montages or make the invisible friend ask us for access to the location or the microphone.
Fake Gift Coupons
Finding the perfect gift is complicated, that’s why gift cards were popularized. With the rise of the Internet, it is possible to send someone by mail such cards, but we must be careful with their origin. Cybercriminals through ads, emails or chat messages will try to trick us into buying gift cards that will turn out to be fraud.
Smishing messages
Receiving a message about Christmas offers is normal and many do it via SMS . However, we must take care of smishing, a practice where scammers pose as different entities to confirm personal and bank information under the pretext of security. You can also tell us that we have to pay customs fees for a package, something that is wreaking havoc with a scam related to Correos.
Christmas lottery
The Internet has facilitated the purchase of Christmas lottery with applications and websites that allow us to buy a number without having to queue. However, many launch fake pages and we must avoid these scams. If we do not trust a specific website, it is better to go directly to the Lotteries and State Betting website.
Emails with fake gifts or bills
It has been detected that email is a fairly efficient way to send phishing . These are publications that pretend to be real with pretexts such as that we have received a gift or that we have an invoice pending payment. They always usually carry a link that leads us to the malicious web. We must remember that we are rarely asked for passwords by these means, so we will avoid giving them.
Ads with scandalous offers, coupons or discounts
If it is an impossible offer you have many ballots being false. Despite this, there are many who sting when they see irresistible coupons or discounts that only hide malicious links. That said, if it seems impossible, it is better that someone else falls into the trap .
Fraudulent donations to NGOs
Finally, donations to NGOs grow at this time of year, which cybercriminals take advantage of to launch false campaigns of this kind. We must be careful with the websites we visit and, if in doubt, go only to the official website of the NGO.
Tips not to fall for Christmas scams
The OSI gives us these tips that we must follow to the letter:
- Suspect the excessively good offers.
- Avoid opening unknown emails.
- Review information on web pages.
- Find information about the store on the Internet.
- Not participate in false Christmas promotions that become viral.
