The Christmas and New Year holiday seasons are all about giving and receiving gifts from loved ones. But what about the anonymous gifts you receive during these festive days? Yes, it’s all about the Christmas and New Year scams. This still happens every year, so here we will aware you of the holiday scams to look out for before 2023 ends.
Additionally, the scams present you as a new surprise because you are busy with online shopping at this time. At the same time, the cyber attackers also wait for your action and interest in discounts and free gifts. Likewise, a few of the latest ripoffs will arise in 2024 and you need to be cautious of them. Let’s have a glance at the most surging Christmas Eve scams before the year ends.
What are the most prominent Christmas and New Year scams to beware of?
Moreover, some skilled threat actors are the spirit of the Christmas and New Year con games that profit them millions. Similarly, the young age and older age groups are the target of these hackers. Likewise, here we share a list of a few of the primary web scams on this festive season.
Blooming Christmas and New Year scams
Phishing email links and spam content
During this season, everyone plans a party or visits their loved ones to give them a surprise. Hence, cyber actors have an eye on your activities and browsing. They use fake websites, spam hyperlinks, fake websites on the same domain name (Typosqutting), AI voice generators, and more to lure customers or steal their financial information. It is difficult to spot but you can minimize the risk by remaining aware and checking the links before clicking.
Gift card swindles
Gift Card scams are the older and the most used techniques to trap people in their scam nets. However, they use the older and used gits codes, gift coupon sharing with a friend or family, etc. So the best way to keep yourself secure from these scams is not to buy gift cards from public auction sites, never trust the people who sell these types of coupons for less than the amount they bought, never share your gift cards with any of the unknown people, etc.
Charity frauds or letters from Santa
This type of scam is interrelated and threat actors use fake charity websites and pages and ask for donations. Also, they share a fake Santa Letter for your child at a minor fee. So, this is a big fish trap that breaks your bank security and spoils your holidays. So, stay awake, do not click any type of these links, and never donate money on such sites or pages.
Holiday traveling & package con tricks
The Christmas and New Year holidays are the most traveling period for the US, Canada, UK, etc. country people. There are unlimited websites and travel agencies that promise to offer you cheap and quality services. But all this is a spoofing for your money and vacation. You also get voucher codes, social media ads, sponsored trip offers, and more.
The malicious codes and false tickets will take your money and you never find them anywhere. Hence, verify the agency and websites that you choose to book the flights or local trains. Also, look for the physical address on the websites if they have one and try to book from the trusted ones.
Social Media ads
There are several social media ads, channels, and pages that you find beneficial for you to get better deals. As Christmas and New Year's Eve are at their peak, scammers also tighten their belts to win the race. Additionally, the grifters generate new social media pages and share links for the cheapest and sale price deals for branded items like shoes, clothing, bags & purses, etc. However, youngsters are the target of these scams and they get snared in these fake deals. So, the better way to go for the true deals and cross-verify the platform from where you purchase these items.
Delivery text or call scams
It is one of the newest tricks used by threat actors and is part of Phishing scams. Generally, these big sharks send you messages with spam links or URLs with the text of delivering your order. Similarly, there are also spam calls where a person tells you that they have your order and click on the link they send you. Therefore, cross-check your order details or whether you ordered something or not. In short, you need to be vigilant all the time in this digitally advanced world.
Wrapping up
On the whole, the information we share with you assist you in remaining secure during this holiday season. Likewise, the above-mentioned holiday scams to look out for before the year ends make you aware to keep your eyes open every time while dealing digitally. So, using an antivirus is the best choice. If you have an antivirus then keep it updated or if not, then go for TTB antivirus. Also, keep yourself modernized and alerted to these frauds and fraudulent activities.
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