It's that time of year again. With the holidays upon us, scammers are running on overdrive to try and take advantage. Let's review some of the top threats.

1. Black Friday/Cyber Monday Specials

This time of year, online scams use a variety of lures to get unsuspecting buyers to click on links or open attachments. Bad guys build complete copies of well-known sites, send emails promoting great deals, sell products and take credit card information – but never deliver the goods. Sites that seem to have incredible discounts should be a red flag. Remember that when a "special offer" is too good to be true, it usually is. For instance, never click on links in emails or popups with very deep discount offers for watches, phones or tablets. Go to the website yourself through your browser and check if that offer is legit.

2. Complimentary Vouchers or Gift Cards

A popular holiday scam is big discounts on gift cards. Don't fall for offers from retailers or social media posts that offer phony vouchers or (Starbucks) gift cards paired with special promotions or contests. Some posts or emails even appear to be shared by a friend (who may have been hacked). Develop a healthy dose of skepticism and "Think Before You Click" on offers or attachments with any gift cards or vouchers!

3. Bogus Shipping Notices From UPS and FedEx

You are going to see emails supposedly from UPS and FedEx in your inbox that claim your package has a problem and/or could not be delivered. Many of these are phishing attacks that try to make you click on a link or open an attachment. However, what happens when you do that is that your computer gets infected with a virus or even ransomware which holds all your files hostage until you pay a ransom.

4. Holiday Refund Scams

These emails seem to come from retail chains or e-commerce companies such as Amazon or eBay claiming there's a "wrong transaction" and prompt you to click the refund link. However, when you do that and are asked to fill out a form, the personal information you give out will be sold to cyber criminals who use it against you. Oh, and never, never, never pay online with a debit card, only use credit cards. Why? if the debit card gets compromised, the bad guys can empty your bank account quickly.

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