Early Holiday Sale Scams

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and so are the sales that everyone looks forward to! Everyone meaning cybercriminals too! Cybercriminals love to use Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales as the main topic in their phishing emails this time of year. Some of these sales have even started as early as November 1 which means so have the sale targeted phishing emails. Cybercriminals will take advantage of this trend and send fake advertisements and purchase receipts to people.

Tips to protect yourself this holiday season:

• Be on the lookout and know what malvertising is! Cyber criminals use malvertising (the act of phishing shoppers through ads on social media and other websites). THINK BEFORE YOU CLICK!
• Most phishing emails with deals in them sound too good to be true! If a deal is amazing and you still think it is legit, go to the company website through a trusted browser instead of accessing it through the email you received.
• Never click on email links or open attachments from an email you weren’t expecting. If the link, logo, and branding all look to be from a store you recognize, still be safe and access the store from a trusted browser.

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