Christmas is a time for giving, spending time with family, and of course – being on the lookout for phishing scams! During this time of the year, we tend to spend more time online than usual, contacting relatives, buying gifts, or looking for recipes.

Cybercriminals take advantage of people during the holiday season, and cyberattacks increase, especially for Christmas. The first step to protecting yourself and your loved ones is being aware of the phishing scams out there. This blog post will discuss some of the most common phishing scams you need to watch out for this Christmas and how can you protect yourself from these scams. Stay safe this holiday season!

Phishing scams: what is it?

Cybercriminals can steal your personal information online in a number of ways, but one common way is through phishing attacks. Phishing can happen through different methods, such as emails, text messages, ads, or websites that urge you to do something that puts you at risk of a cyberattack. Usually, this attack comes with a link from a well-known company or government that leads you to a harmful site.

Let’s take a look at the most common phishing scams during Christmas:

Christmas Phishing Scams

Amazon and Paypal email scams

As the holiday season approaches, be on the lookout for an increased number of phishing emails that appear to come from reputable companies. Some popular targets for these scams are Amazon and PayPal, as many people use these platforms to make purchases and transactions, making them the perfect source for a phishing email. Through these phishing emails, hackers want access to your Amazon or Paypal accounts where you have your card details.

Holiday vacations scams

These scams usually tend to seem too good to be true. Scammers have set up fake travel sites for years to gather personal information. Always plan your vacations through reputable websites and travel agencies.

Charity phishing scams

Several people make donations to various causes during the holiday season. However, con artists also exploit this opportunity by requesting money from individuals under the guise of false charities. These scammers take advantage of people’s generosity and defraud them for their own gain.

Fake ads in online marketplaces

Online marketplaces, such as social media, trading pages, and auction websites, are generally not regulated to the same extent as normal e-commerce sites. Price gougers, for example, who inflate prices on scarce items you can’t buy in shops are a common problem. However, you should be careful that many buyers do not intend to deliver these products once they have bought them.

Gift card phishing scams

Gift cards are not intended for payments. When someone tells you to pay them with a gift card, that’s fraud. Scammers like gift cards because they’re easy to come by and purchase. They also have fewer buyer protections than other payment choices do. Money on a gift card is used up as soon as you use it.

To keep your data protected this holiday season, here are some tips to avoid the most common phishing scams:

Tips to protect yourself from Christmas phishing scams

• Install Guardio protection tool: Having Guardio extension installed on your browser will guarantee you are surfing the web safely. Thanks to its in-house features developed by a security team Guardio detects phishing attempts and blocks any harmful site.
• Doubt about unusual communications: This Christmas, be on the lookout for scams by checking the email address of any unusual communications you receive from your bank, online retailers, or delivery services. If the domain name doesn’t match that of the organization, it’s most likely a scam.
• Be wary of attachments and links: This is one of the most common ways that viruses and malware can get onto your device, as well as how data may be stolen. Guardio protects you from harmful and dangerous downloads and blocks websites from unreliable sources.

This holiday season, don’t let phishing scams ruin your festive mood. Be extra vigilant and take the necessary precautions to protect yourself and your family from these attacks. Stay safe, and enjoy the holidays!