As the winter holidays approach, US-CERT reminds users to remain vigilant against seasonal scams and cyber campaigns, which may involve:
- Electronic greeting cards that could contain malware.
- Requests for charitable contributions that might be phishing scams, often from illegitimate sources posing as charities.
- Screensavers or other downloadable media that could contain malware.
- Credit card applications that might be phishing scams or attempts at identity theft.
- Online shopping advertisements that might be phishing scams or identity theft attempts from fake retailers.
- Shipping notifications that might be phishing scams or could contain malware.
US-CERT advises users and administrators to exercise caution when encountering these types of email messages and implement the following preventive measures to safeguard themselves from phishing scams and malware campaigns:
- Refer to the Shopping Safely Online Cyber Security Tip for more information on online shopping safety.
- Do not follow unsolicited web links in email messages.
- Use caution when opening email attachments. Refer to the Using Caution with Email Attachments Cyber Security Tip for more information on safely handling email attachments.
- Maintain up-to-date antivirus software.
- Review the Federal Trade Commission’s Charity Checklist.
- Verify charity authenticity through a trusted contact number. Trusted contact information can be found on the Better Business Bureau’s National Charity Report Index.
- Refer to the Recognizing and Avoiding Email Scams (pdf) document for more information on avoiding email scams.
- Refer to the Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks Cyber Security Tip for more information on social engineering attacks.
- Refer to the Holiday Traveling with Personal Internet-Enabled Devices Cyber Security Tip for more information on protecting personal mobile devices while traveling over the holidays.
via US-Cert.Gov
