McAfee: Web users should watch out for holiday scams - crowleytrie1968

WWW users and mass shopping online during the upcoming vacation temper should watch KO'd for a new work of scams, some of them targeting users of mobile devices, cybersecurity vendor McAfee warned.

Some of the scams in McAfee's 2012 edition of its 12 scams of Christmas inclination, released Mon, aren't entirely new, but are new versions of old scams, said Robert Siciliano, McAfee's online security practiced.

Criminals are rolling out gray-haired scams, with slight variations, connected new devices and in operation systems, he said. "There's no sense in reinventing the wheel."

Malicious mobile apps

One of the big threats this year comes from venomed maneuverable apps, particularly finished Android app stores other than Google Play, Siciliano aforementioned. Mobile apps in those third-party stores may not be vetted for security, he said.

About one in four mobile device users will use their smartphones to shop online this year, McAfee predicted.

Skype scams

Some other spin on an old instant messaging scam is a Skype message scare off, McAfee said. Through Skype, scammers are sending instant messages saying, "Lol is this your recent visibility pic?"

When the Skype user clicks on the included link, a Trojan downloads onto the Winchester drive and sends the link to all of the Skype user's contacts. In about cases, the scammers ask out for money from PC users in exchange for restitution access to their compromised files, McAfee said.

The Skype attack is "a brace of different old scams with a relatively new twist to them," Siciliano said. "That seems to be the ongoing theme. Thither's just so much opportunity out thither for criminals, with all the various devices that consumers are victimization."

Many an families ain some devices with varied operational systems, many of which aren't properly black-and-white operating theater secured with antivirus and other security software program, atomic number 2 aforesaid. "You rich person kids using mobiles, and parents exploitation PCs, and Dad or Mom isn't properly securing them," Siciliano said. "Criminals are taking completely old scams and qualification them new over again with different twists."

Fake ads

Former scams making the McAfee list include simulated ads for discounted products connected Facebook and Twitter, e-cards with golf links to malware, and ad links to hot gifts wish electronics with super low prices. If the price appears to a fault skillful to be true, it's probably a scam.

In addition, Scambook, an online ill resolution platform, has issued a warning about a text-message campaign telling recipients they have won a US$1,000 Best Buy gift card. Scambook estimated that more than 84,000 mass have standard the text substance so furthest, with another 100,000 mobile users expected to receive the gear in the next few days.

Advice

Internet users should use up-to-date antivirus, antiphishing and antispyware software, and firewalls, and keep their in operation systems adequate date, Siciliano recommended. It's not adequate for Web users to be aware of up-to-the-minute scams, because criminals are perpetually dynamic tactics, he aforementioned.

Parents should talk to their children about security risks, he added. "It's not enough to let the 14-year-old run the family security," He aforementioned. "The mom and dad need to bang what's releas on also."