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10th Day: Beware the Phony Santa Claus Comin’ to Town

Holiday Security Tips: On the tenth day of Christmas, the experts gave to me, 10 trusted charities

Because you tend to be more giving throughout the holidays, scammers target you during this time of year. Whether they are asking for a donation to a charity, promising free iPads, claiming to be a friend in need, or are asking you to click on something outrageous or out of character, don’t fall for it.

Solution: Keep your eyes open for these common holiday scams

• Phishing. Thieves, or hackers as they are more commonly known, will send emails that look like they are legitimately sent from a charitable organization when in real-life these are fake web sites that are designed to steal credit card information, donations and your identity. To donate, call or visit the website of a reputable charitable organization.
• Click Jacking. Click Jacking is a type of social spam. After taking over a friend’s Facebook account, the spammer posts a message on your friend’s Facebook or Twitter page offering free gifts or recommending you donate. Since it looks like a friend has endorsed the post, it’s much easier to fall for the scam. If it’s not believable or out of character, don’t click, as it’s likely to install Malware on your system.
• Charity or Friends-in-Distress Scams. Never send money (via check, cash or electronically) based solely on a wall post, email or phone call. Only donate to known charities and only when you have initiated the gift. Respond to wall posts, emails or phone calls for charity by contacting the charity on a reputable phone number or website.

The song tells you that you’d better not pout and better not cry; you won’t have to do either if you just watch out! On the eleventh day of Christmas…

To review our tips from previous days, click here.

John Sileo is an an award-winning author and keynote speaker on identity theft, internet privacy, fraud training & technology defense. John specializes in making security entertaining, so that it works. John is CEO of The Sileo Group, whose clients include the Pentagon, Visa, Homeland Security & Pfizer. John’s body of work includes appearances on 60 Minutes, Rachael Ray, Anderson Cooper & Fox Business. Contact him directly on 800.258.8076.

Posted by Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo in Identity Theft Prevention and tagged "Charity scams", "Click Jacking", "Phishing", “Holiday ID Theft”, “Online scams”, “Prevent Identity Theft”, “Preventing Identity Theft”, holiday, Holiday Identity Theft, Holiday Scams, holiday security tips, Holiday Shopping, John Sileo, Sileo.

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