A ridiculous more 12 scams of the holidays!

6 Apr 2015 · 2 min

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This content was created by Robert Siciliano. This content was uploaded by Robert Siciliano. This is a YouTube news segment titled "A ridiculous more 12 scams of the holidays!" (WTOC original report) dated April 6, 2015. Don Lagana presents the first of a consumer-protection series called the "12 Scams of Christmas," warning viewers about phishing emails, malicious links, and fraudulent shipping-notification messages. The piece also cites McAfee Security's Robert Siciliano about large-scale email and data exposures after retail breaches.

Tonight we begin some WTOC original reports to help you protect yourself, your identity, and your money. Don Lagana has the holiday alert, the 12 Scams of Christmas.
For our first scam of Christmas, our holiday schemers are delivering mail, lots of it. And you've got mail in your email inbox, plenty of messages you need to avoid Watch out for email deals which aren't deals at all, and beware of mysterious links which show up in your inbox. These could be scams designed to steal your financial information, install computer viruses or other malware on your computer. Recent data breaches of major retail companies haven't helped do consumers any favors. McAfee Security's Robert Siciliano says it's not just your credit cards which may have been compromised, but also millions and millions of emails.
Consumers can expect that they're gonna get what's called phishing emails. These are the emails that look like they're coming from legitimate entities, but are in fact fake, designed to lure us into clicking links or entering our personal information. So anytime you get one of these emails that look like it's coming from a retailer, don't click the links, 'cause if you do, you're gonna get malware, malicious software, spyware, that allows the bad guy to see the websites you visit and the usernames and passwords you type in.
So think twice before clicking links in shipping notification emails, and always verify the shipping company before giving out your personal information. With your first scam of Christmas, you've got mail. Don Lagana, WTOC News.