In this interview, McAfee online‑security expert Robert Siciliano warns holiday shoppers about a series of online scams that spike during the season, framing them as the “12 scams of the holidays.” He explains how phishing emails and spoofed retailer sites can deliver malware or steal personal data, and stresses the importance of keeping devices updated with antivirus, anti‑spyware, anti‑phishing tools and firewalls. Siciliano highlights deceptive advertising on social media that leads to fraudulent gift‑card offers and credit‑card fraud, advising shoppers to verify HTTPS connections, monitor statements, and enable real‑time alerts via mobile banking apps. He also covers mobile‑device safety, urging users to download apps only from official stores (Google Play, iTunes) and to install mobile antivirus such as McAfee Mobile Security. Throughout, he offers practical, actionable steps—avoiding suspicious links, checking credit‑card activity daily, and using notification settings—to help consumers shop online securely during the holiday rush.
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Just about a week, people will be lining up outside stores getting ready to start their holiday shopping. But if you plan on buying your gifts online, you will of course be avoiding the crowds, but you may be putting yourself at risk for online attacks.
Yeah, just in time for the holidays, right? You've heard of the 12 Days of Christmas. Well, these are the 12 scams of the holidays. And joining us this morning to tell us what they are and importantly how we can avoid them is McAfee Online Security expert Robert Siciliano. Good morning, Robert. What are these scams and when are shoppers most likely to come across these scams?
Yeah, well, always being aware of any emails that come in, right? We get these phishing emails. It looks like it's coming from a major retailer with some type of a too-good-to-be-true offer, and so you start clicking links and visiting websites. Often what happens is when you click these links, you might end up downloading malware, malicious software, onto your device which infects your device. Now, if you end up clicking a link that brings you to a website, chances are that website might be a spoofed website, a fake website designed to get you to enter your personal information. So really, anytime these incoming emails come in, you wanna make sure that your devices are properly updated with the antivirus, anti-spyware, anti-phishing, and a firewall, make sure— so you can prevent these scams from happening. And simply just being aware of this stuff, like I rarely click links in the body of emails today 'cause I know there's a good chance it's gonna be fraud.
It's such a situation. We deal with it every day too, uh, with our email at work. Talk a little bit about the 12 scams of the holidays and what people should look out for.
So be aware of deceptive advertising. So you're on social and you see a link for some type of an ad that's like 50% off a gift card or something like that. There's a good chance that that's a scammy link set up by bad guys posing as a legitimate e-tailer. And once you click that link and you visit that website, there's a good chance you could give your credit card information to a criminal. So when it comes to credit card fraud, make sure that any website that you visit, in the address bar, it says HTTPS. That means it's a secure page. And also, you wanna make sure to pay close attention to your credit card statements. That means that every single month, you know, you check out your paper statements, but what you also can do is sign up for online statements, which means you go to the credit card company's website, you check every single charge, make sure that every charge was authorized by you, and you can also get your bank or credit card credit card company's mobile app. So you get the mobile app onto your smartphone and you can check your statements every single day. So while you're at the doctor's office or the dentist's office, you can actually check all of the different charges that were made, making sure that they're authorized by you. Now what I also do is I go to my credit card company's website and I go to the alerts or notification settings. This way, every single time a charge is made, right, I get an alert, I get a text message or an email so I know every single charge is being made, when it's being made, and if it wasn't being made by me, then I can just contact the bank or credit card company and refute that unauthorized charge.
Now, how do you keep your information safe and protect yourself from scams on mobile devices? Lots of us are making purchases not on laptops but on our mobile phones and tablets.
Yeah, make sure that you're downloading mobile apps from approved stores like Google Play or iTunes. You know, that's where the approved apps are.
They've been vetted by the store.
Software so you know that they're not going to be malicious. Also on your Android devices, you know, your Samsungs and HTCs and Motorolas, they have to have antivirus software. So just like on a Microsoft Windows PC it has to have antivirus, even on a Mac today, your Android operating system has to have antivirus because, you know, there's thousands and thousands of viruses that are targeting your mobile phones today. So antivirus like McAfee Mobile Security on your Android is a really good thing to make sure that you don't have malicious viruses on your mobile today.
All right, well McAfee online security expert Robert Siciliano, thank you so much for kind of wading through the murky waters of that for people who are about to start their shopping.
