Tag Archive for: holidays

12 Days to a Safe Christmas: Day 12 – Holiday Security Tips All Wrapped up Together

Would you like to give the people you care about some peace on earth during this holiday season? Take a few minutes to pass on our 12 privacy tips that will help them protect their identities, social media, shopping and celebrating over the coming weeks. The more people that take the steps we’ve outlined in the 12 Days of Christmas, the safer we all become, collectively.

Have a wonderful holiday season, regardless of which tradition you celebrate. Now sing (and click) along with us one more time.  

On the 12th Day of Christmas, the experts gave to me: 

12 Happy Holidays,

11 Private Emails,

10 Trusted Charities

9 Protected Packages

8 Scam Detectors

7 Fraud Alerts

6 Safe Celebrations

Fiiiiiiiiiiive Facebook Fixes

4 Pay Solutions

3 Stymied Hackers

2 Shopping Tips

And the Keys to Protect My Privacy

 


About Cybersecurity Keynote Speaker John Sileo

John Sileo is the founder and CEO of The Sileo Group, a cybersecurity think tank, in Lakewood, Colorado, and an award-winning author, keynote speaker and expert on technology, cybersecurity, and tech/life balance. He energizes conferences, corporate trainings and main-stage events by making security fun and engaging. His clients include the Pentagon, Schwab, and organizations of all sizes. John got started in cybersecurity when he lost everything, including his $2 million business, to cybercrime. Since then, he has shared his experiences on 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper, and even while cooking meatballs with Rachel Ray. Contact John directly to see how he can customize his presentations to your audience.

Don't Have a Fraudulent Valentine's Day

Romance is in the air, but so is fraud.

I hate it when scammers take advantage of you on holidays. In fact, I don’t much like being the person responsible for telling you that fraud goes way up during holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day. But it’s my job, and it’s important to me, and you have nothing to worry about if you are using common sense. In case your common sense is lacking due to all of the chocolate, here are some thoughts on Valentines Scams.

In happy and/or busy moments, people tend to let their guard down. Consumers are happier, more trusting, generous and hopeful around Valentine’s Day. This is a good thing. We want people to be happy, in love and celebrating each other.

I just don’t want you to be so distracted that it gives an identity thief an opening to take advantage of you. Around this time there is a rise of online scams, especially where thieves send out malicious links that direct you to a site where you are tricked into giving personal information.

The problem with malicious links is that they appear to be sent by someone you trust, especially when they come from a friend on Facebook or another social netowork. Most people click on them because they look like they are from a friend, legitimate company, bank, or other business that you have dealt with in the past. Also, around Valentines day, the message might appear to be from a  flower, candy or gift company that is giving you some amazing offer, and all you have to do is click!

While these malicious links can be sent by email most people don’t realize you can get them via Facebook, Twitter, IM, or even text message. Scammers have gotten more sneaky and creative with their methods of attack. With Valentines Day right around the corner they will be disguised as friends or businesses tapping into your romantic, loving, and trusting side.

Watch out for companies offering you 50% off on 1-800-flowers if you purchase them from their (phony) site. Maybe it’s a free offer from Match.com or link a “friend” has sent to check out the best Valentine’s Day gifts this year. In other words, just be extra careful about anything you click on that has to do with the holiday. You are better off typing the URL of where you want to go (flower store, chocolates, etc.) in the address bar.

Here are a few ways that criminals hid Malicious links so that you have a harder time spotting them:

  • A slight misspelled version of a trusted URL
  • Using a URL shortener (Tiny, bit.ly) to hide the actual URL
  • Use simple HTML formatting to hide the real URL. This is very common and hard to spot because while you are clicking on www.firstbank.com it is actually a dangerous link in disguise that takes you to a malicious site.

Here are a few ways that you can protect yourself for being duped this Valentine’s Day.,

  1. Always type the website you wish to visit directly into the browser. Do not click on a link and just assume that it is safe.
  2. Don’t click on anything that has been sent from someone you don’t know or from someone you do know but seems out of character.
  3. Don’t click on anything that said it was sent by your bank or any other bank. Call the bank up directly to verify the email and type their web address into your browser.
  4. Don’t click on a link that says it is an urgent situation. Many times, scammers will try to scare you into thinking you have to click now or something bad will happen. That is never the case. Call the company directly on their known phone number to handle the situation.
  5. And most importantly, unlike true love, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Research it further.

On this Valentines Day, make sure that you don’t get swept up in the moment and taken advantage of by a scammer. No matter what the holiday is, always make sure that you are thinking with your head and not just with your heart when protecting your most important asset… your identity.

John Sileo loves Valentine’s Day because he gets to celebrate with his wife, whom he has had a crush on since he was 8. He is the author of Privacy Means Profit and earns his keep delivering highly motivational identity theft speeches.

Scrooge’s Top 10 Holiday ID Theft Protection Tips

scrooge.jpg 
“Might I have another lump of coal for the fire, Mr. Scrooge?”
                                  -Bob Cratchit (Dickens’ A Christmas Carol)

What in the world do we have to learn from Ebenezer Scrooge about protecting our identities during the busy holiday season?

Plenty!

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