Better Business Bureau Warns of Cyber Scams

By Stephen Mazeika   

The holiday season has always been known as the busiest shopping season of the year. Consumers are buying gifts for each other for the various holidays and also at the same time taking advantage of great sales that are offered by retailers to lure them into spending more.

Unfortunately, there is a dark side to all of the good tidings and cheer; cyber criminals are also stepping up their scams to target unsuspecting online shoppers.

“While most of the country is promoting peace and love this winter season, criminals are spreading computer viruses and stealing identities,” said Tim Burns, Public Affairs Director of the Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern Michigan. “Hackers pose as trusted businesses to take advantage of the seasonal increase in online shopping and shipping. They utilize holiday themed messages to lure people into online scams and frauds.”

‘Phishing’--a growing trend used by thieves

This type of maneuver is commonly used by hackers, and the BBB has reported an increase in emails going around the internet.

Most often, victims receive an email from the hacker that impersonates a respectable company such as a bank or electricity provider where typically account information is a necessity. They usually will ask that you follow a link to a special site to ‘update your account information’. Don’t ever click on the link if you are suspicious, as typically these companies never ask for this kind of personal information via email.

These links often trick people into giving out sensitive information such as pin codes and social security numbers, or may automatically download a virus called malware which infiltrates sensitive saved passwords and information from your computer.

E-Cards can be deceiving

Although everyone loves to get those funny animated e-cards at holidays and other times of the year, they may also serve as a gateway for phishing activity. The BBB warns people to be wary if you get an e-card with lots of grammatical errors, and especially if you don’t know who the sender is.

Fake shipping information notices

These have been especially damaging as hackers continue to come up with more clever schemes to trick people into downloading their malware attachments.

Emails from shippers such as FedEx and UPS that provide shipping tracking are being impersonated, and in the message people are told to click on a link to “print a copy of the invoice that is in the added file”. This is yet another window for cyber criminals’ malicious software to wreak havoc on your computer and your finances. Recent messages have included this subject line, “Subject: Tracking Number 13040065504.”

The BBB advises going directly to the shipper’s web sites or calling them if you have suspicions that you have been sent a phishing email. Better safe than sorry; in this situation it can save you frustration, time, and money.

Holiday spending cash surveys

Like the shipping and e-card scams, other hacker plots have utilized a scheme of impersonating popular retailers such as Wal-Mart or Target that often have messages stating

“You’ve been selected to take part in our quick and easy 9 questions survey. In return we will credit $90.00 to your account - Just for your time!” Below this message in the email is a link to “take the survey”. Don’t click on this email, as it leads to a phishing website that will once again allow hackers access to personal information stored on your computer.