Experts warn about the increase in sophisticated scams targeting holiday shoppers, especially online and on social media.
As holiday shoppers search for their final gifts this week, experts are urging people to be careful not to fall victim to increasingly sophisticated and deceitful scams, especially on social media. 'A lot of times people think, 'Oh, I would never get scammed. That would never happen to me.
' But the reality of the situation is, we know that young people get scammed just as frequently as older individuals,' said Rachel Tobac, the CEO of SocialProof Security, a firm of 'friendly hackers' that help companies strengthen their cyber defenses. With just about everyone doing some amount of their shopping online these days, a scammer can make a pretty safe bet that their target has a package coming. 'A lot of times they’ll get your credit card information, your address, people sometimes even give away their Social Security information because the attacker pretends to be the U.S. Postal Service and says they need that information to get your package to you. The attackers really try to employ a sense of urgency or fear that you’re not gonna get what you need during this holiday season at the time that you really need it,' Tobac said. Another common red flag occurs during a person-to-person sale on a messaging platform when the seller insists the buyer pay them via Venmo, Zelle, Cash App or some other third-party payment platform. 'You can’t get your money back once it’s wired,' Tobac said. 'The attackers are really smart and so they’re going to move it really quickly and your bank is not going to be able to respond in time.” The good news is, that some social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp have rolled out tools to help users identify suspicious behavior. On Facebook Marketplace, users will get alerted if the account they are interacting with displays patterns consistent with scam scenarios, according to Met
HOLIDAY SCAMS SOCIAL MEDIA ONLINE SHOPPING CYBERSECURITY FRAUD
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