Spammers Taking Advantage of Holiday Season

by Frank Jovine on 11/29/2009 in Scams & Hoaxes, Security

Tis the season to be jolly and spammers are decorating the internet with spam. This is not ordinary spam, it comes in the form of coupons with big savings and $500 grocery spending sprees. The spam ads look like the real deal. In fact, I was curious and clicked on one of the spam ads only to discover that the site I opened was full of Malware.

On the day before Thanksgiving I received my 2nd spam email offering me $500 worth of free groceries. The spammed messages offered users who log in to their sites US$500 worth of “grocery vouchers.” The sites were hosted on different domains that, upon further analysis, have already been blacklisted though they have only recently been created.

Fake Coupon

How to stay safe when shopping online

Be very wary of online offers. Here are some useful dos and don’ts that will help you stay safe from spammers during the holiday season on the web:

  • Do not open emails that come from senders you do not personally know.
  • Do not click links embedded in emails. To check if these are legitimate, you may use free tools such as Trend Micro’s Online URL Query.
  • Do not give out your personal information online.
  • Do keep in mind that legitimate offers are only sent to subscribers.

If the offer looks to good to be true, it’s probably a scam.

  • Share/Bookmark

6 Responses to “Spammers Taking Advantage of Holiday Season”

  1. Joanie

    Nov 29th, 2009

    Thanks for the tip! I haven’t seen this one in my email yet, but I’ll remember not to click if I do.

    • Frank J

      Nov 29th, 2009

      Joanie,

      You are welcome! Don’t click it, if it looks suspicious.

  2. Jake

    Nov 30th, 2009

    Frank, I think the last sentence in this post sums it up the best. “If the offer looks to good to be true, it’s probably a scam.”

    I’ve fallen prey to these types of offers before as well, but that’s made me extra cautious when thinking about clicking on these types of ads. It’s just not worth the hassle. Thanks for sharing this specific example.

    • Frank J

      Nov 30th, 2009

      Jake,

      It sure does. Thanks for the comment as always!

  3. facebook application developers USA

    Dec 1st, 2009

    These are note worthy tips to avoid the spammer

    • Frank J

      Dec 1st, 2009

      I am happy that you agree!