This content was created by Robert Siciliano. This content was uploaded by Robert Siciliano. This is a YouTube video titled "12 Scams of Christmas" (published April 6, 2015). The excerpt is an English informational segment featuring two speakers (labeled SPEAKER A and SPEAKER B) in which they discuss online scams — particularly phishing emails, spoofed retailer websites, data breaches, and practical advice to avoid fraud (do not click links in emails, monitor credit card/bank statements, and enable transaction alerts). The speakers appear to be a host and an expert offering consumer-security tips.
Chapters
Good morning to you. Now, first things first, Robert, let's talk about the one thing people need to look out for most, because I always think I get all of this email, all of this spam, and some of those bargains seem great, but if I'm not— if I didn't log on with that realtor, with that, with that, with the real estate, with the retailer in the first place, then I don't click on to their email.
Yeah, chances are, uh, the offer you're going to get is going to be a too-good-to-be-true one. We are in what's called the year of the breach, and what that means is that many, many retailers have been breached, which means millions and millions of credit card numbers and email addresses are in the hands of criminals. You got to know that. So anytime you get an email that looks like it's coming from a legitimate entity, there is a chance that it might be fraudulent. So anytime you get an email, a phishing email, looking like it's coming from Home Depot or Target or anyone else for that matter. Don't click the links in the body of the email. That's what gets you into trouble. So I never click links in the body of an email because if you, if you do, what happens is you get what's called malware, malicious software, spyware. And spyware spies on you. It allows the bad guy to see the websites you visit and the usernames and passwords that you type in. And so if you also click those links, you can end up on what's called spoofed websites. Spoofed websites are ones that look like the legitimate e-tailer but are in fact fake, designed to get you to enter your credit card information. So if you enter your credit card information, then You gotta make close sure that you are paying attention to your statements. That means that every month, if you get paper statements, you check out your statements looking for unauthorized charges. You can also do it, you know, every week online. And you can also download your bank or credit card company's mobile application. You can check your statements every single day if you want to. And what I've also done is I have gone to my bank and credit card company's websites and I've signed up for alerts and notifications so that I can see every single charge as it's being made via a text
