{"id":58284,"date":"2017-11-10T13:06:47","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T19:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=58284"},"modified":"2017-11-10T13:06:47","modified_gmt":"2017-11-10T19:06:47","slug":"season-scammed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/season-scammed\/","title":{"rendered":"Tis’ the Season to be Scammed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shoppers Beware – It’s Scamming Season<\/h3>\n

As the holidays quickly approach, scammers are using holiday deals as a way to target customers.\u00a0 This approach is not new, but shoppers must be aware of the risk.\u00a0 Black Friday and Cyber Monday are fast approaching, and the deals are already showing up in news feeds and emails.\u00a0 It is critical shoppers understand the risk of clicking on malicious links disguised as online ads or store sites.\u00a0 It may sound far-fetched, that hackers would create lookalike sites of popular shopping webpages, but it’s actually far too easy.\u00a0 Dodi Glenn, PC Matic’s vice president of cyber security states,<\/p>\n

“Unfortunately, it is too easy to create lookalike sites. Anyone with the right software can download complete websites, and make a few changes, then upload the “site” to another domain.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

By doing so, hackers are able to obtain all of the information shoppers would use in a normal checkout process.\u00a0 This includes names, addresses, and credit card information.\u00a0 It also wouldn’t be too surprising to request users to “login” to shop.\u00a0 By doing so, hackers could obtain email addresses and passwords.\u00a0 This leads to additional risks.\u00a0 Think about how many times you use the same password for various sites.\u00a0 If hackers were to require a login, they would have your email address, password (likely one commonly used), address, and credit card data.\u00a0 Scary right?!<\/p>\n

Beyond creating fake websites, hackers are also creating fake links to sales ads.\u00a0 These ads could include ransomware, worms, viruses, and even keyloggers.<\/p>\n

So, what can shoppers do to protect themselves?\u00a0 Dodi suggests,<\/p>\n

“Rather than clicking on the link in the email, simply visit the site directly in a browser.\u00a0 Also, be careful about deals that are too good to be true. Typically, they are.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shoppers Beware – It’s Scamming Season As the holidays quickly approach, scammers are using holiday deals as a way to target customers.\u00a0 This approach is not new, but shoppers must be aware of the risk.\u00a0 Black Friday and Cyber Monday are fast approaching, and the deals are already showing up in news feeds and emails.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":55199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[183],"tags":[5105,4966],"class_list":["post-58284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips","tag-holiday-scams","tag-phishing-scams"],"yoast_head":"\nTis' the Season to be Scammed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As the holidays quickly approach, shoppers need to be prepared to be scammed. 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