It's the holiday season, when Internet users spend more time online, whether searching for shopping opportunities, electronically planning meetings, and conducting online or mobile banking transactions.
To keep you alert, below are some of the most common cases that are used to commit electronic fraud:
1. Hackers have flooded Facebook with fake promotions and contests that aim to collect highly sensitive personal information (bank account numbers, credit card numbers and confidential information, card passwords, etc.).
How to avoid it: Do not reveal personal information on unsafe sites. Safe sites for providing this type of information are recognizable by the beginning of the address with “https.”
2. During the Christmas season, hackers take advantage of the generosity of Internet users by sending emails that appear to come from legitimate charities. In reality, they are fake websites dedicated to stealing donations and personal information from those who make the transaction.
How to avoid it: Always type the complete address of the Web page in the URL bar of the browser. Never click on a link that has been sent by email.
3. Posting information about your upcoming vacation on social networking sites could be dangerous, as this could allow unauthorized users to see your post and decide that it is a good opportunity to commit criminal acts.
How to avoid it: Keep personal information confidential, as it could help commit illegal acts, keep your friends list on social networks and/or your contact list on messaging apps clean.
4. Cybercriminals take advantage of this time to send seemingly authentic friend requests from social networks. Additionally, Internet users should be careful when clicking on the shortcuts/links/direct links included in these emails, the purpose of which is to install malicious files and steal personal information.
How to avoid it: Do not add people you do not know as friends on your social network, make sure that the person you are accepting as a friend is who they say they are.
5. During Christmas, hackers create websites related to the holiday season, with ringtones, wallpapers, Christmas carols or screensavers. Downloading such files can infect your computer with malicious files in order to steal personal information.
How to avoid it: Download these types of files from well-known sites that have a good reputation in the field, pay attention to the warning messages that your computer displays and keep your antivirus updated on your computer.
6. Buyers should be cautious with online offers that seem too good to be true (especially for well-known brand name products), because most of the time, these purchases do not reach their destination and, in addition, sensitive personal information may be compromised.
How to avoid it: Make sure you read the warranty and security policies of these sites, as well as access sites with a good reputation for this type of transaction.
General Recommendations:
– Avoid using easy passwords, such as your birthday, your child’s birth date, etc. The idea is to avoid using information that is easy to know. Make your password strong; it is best to use numbers, letters and symbols at the same time.
– Use different passwords for each service such as: banks, social networks, messaging.
– Never send your credit or debit account numbers or passwords by email or over any network connected to the Internet.
– Do not carry out electronic transactions on shared computers (cyberspaces, universities, hotels, etc.), or on public wireless networks.
– When making electronic transactions or payments, do so from a secure location, whether from your personal or business computer.
– Use your USB storage device (Pendrive) in a personal manner, avoid using it indiscriminately on different computers.
– Always enter the address of the website you wish to access into your browser, this way you will avoid accessing a portal impersonated using a phishing technique (the user believes they are on the correct portal but in reality they are not).
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