14 DAY TRIAL // Halloween is almost here and everyone is getting ready to go trick-or-treating or to attend costume parties. In case you haven’t purchased your costume, or if you’re thinking of taking advantage of the Halloween discounts, here’s some advice.
As always, an important event is a great opportunity for cybercriminals and scammers to trick Internet users into purchasing counterfeit items or to lure them to malicious websites. That’s why users must be careful when checking out advertisements or when searching for specific products online.
Symantec experts have come across a couple of interesting scams. One of them is entitled “Halloween Price Slashes on All Cars, Trucks, SUVs,” and the other one bears the subject “Halloween Costume Ideas.”
Advertisements such as these are designed to help fraudsters make a profit. They either try to sell inexistent products, or they simply trick victims into handing over information that could aid the crooks in gaining access to their bank accounts.
In order to avoid falling victims to such schemes, internauts should try to avoid unsolicited emails, check out the advertised website’s authenticity (for instance, if it utilizes authentication services such as VeriSign).
Also, websites that request sensitive information such as passwords and PINs should be treated with maximum suspicion.
GFI experts warn that, in many cases, cybercriminals will turn to blackhat SEO poisoning in order to infect devices.
In an interview with Computerworld’s Darlene Storm, GFI's Jovi Umawing advised users to be careful when searching for keywords such as “Halloween costumes,” “ghost stories,” “pumpkins,” or “Halloween games,” since the results brought up by a search engine could hide a malicious plot.
Umawing also warned about the lack of secure connections on the websites of online stores. The fact that the padlock icon or the “https” is missing in the browser’s address bar should raise some suspicion.