New Holiday Phishing

This post from a few years ago is still relevant, with scammers launching a record amount of social engineering attacks this season. Here are some new cons users should know about.

• New shipping scams include failed delivery notifications and text messages from drivers requesting personal information they say is needed to deliver a package
• Look-alike stores that are advertised on social media and result in stolen funds or credit card information
• Fake charities, including GoFundMe campaigns and in-person scams that use unlocked phones to access Venmo and transfer funds
• Highly tailored social media scams, using fake personas and based on information that has been shared or posted publicly by the victim
• Requests to participate in fake surveys
• Free giveaways, security alerts, romance scams, and other common types of phishing is still on the rise
• Many large breaches occurring in the past few months have given criminals access to colossal amounts of private data, much of which is being used to personalize phishing emails and make them much harder to spot