On the fourth day of scamming, your hackers send to you … not four calling birds but a click trick.
Welcome to the fourth installment of “The Twelve Days of Scamming” as a reminder to be cautious and vigilant during the Christmas season, when cyber thieves are working overtime to do anything – literally anything – to steal from you.
In this day you receive an unsolicited text, email or social media reminder to log into your account to resolve an issue and the sender gives you a link to click on. The message gives you instructions that seem legitimate and the email looks official.
Your first thought is that you want to have your credit card active for Christmas shopping, so this is a timely invitation
As with a previous warning, look closely at the logo on the message to see if it is crisp or if it is smudged, which is the sign of a copy of a copy of a copy.
Do NOT click on that link. You can hover your cursor over the link and it will reveal the address that it is sending you to. Read it closely to make sure the name on the link is legitimate and is not a variation, such as .net or .org instead of ending with .com.
Also, avoid the temptation to reply with “Nice try” or “You’re not fooling me!” One purpose of the email/text/social media post is to confirm your contact information.
And do not click on the “remove from this list” link because there is no guarantee that the link is legitimate.
The holiday season from December 21 through New Year’s Day is a risky time because most companies give time off to their employees – particularly their IT professionals. This leaves them – and you – at risk at a time when cyber criminals are working overtime.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has now allowed cybercriminals to automate their nefarious actions and achieve in minutes what in the past would have taken a full day.
While you are shopping and enjoying family time, these criminals are attacking you like never before. The Christmas holiday season is the Super Bowl for scammers, so be more careful than ever!
IMPORTANT! Develop a plan today with your in-house IT specialist or your third-party IT professional. Don’t allow this most joyous time of the year to become your worst nightmare!
Michael D. Moore is founder and CEO of M3 Networks, an IT Support and Cybersecurity firm located in Southlake with a nationwide presence. He has 29 years of experience in IT and has spoken frequently to organizations about cybersecurity. His speaking partners have often been agents with the FBI and Secret Service. For answers to questions about keeping your data, money and financial future secure from cyber threats, call Michael at 817-532-0127.
