Planning to dazzle the neighbors with holiday decorations? Scammers are out to dim your festive spirit.
5 clever scams making the rounds you need to know about
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Another day, another scam. Or should we say scams? There seems to be no end to discovering crooked schemes that use every means imaginable to trick people out of their information, data and finances.
Everyone’s received text messages from unknown numbers. Sometimes it’s a service or business you use that isn’t in your contacts. It could be your food delivery app letting you know that your grub is on the way. It could also be the first step in a scam. Tap or click here to learn how the scheme works and how to keep from falling victim to it.
While it’s impossible to describe every scam out there, we can give you a heads up about five current ones that you should watch for. We’ll give you an overview of how to spot and avoid them. This tip is brought to you by our sponsor and Kim’s antivirus pick, TotalAV.
1. Squid Game malware
“Squid Game” is Netflix’s most-watched show, and scammers are taking advantage of its popularity. The crooks are sending emails promoting a sneak peek at season two of “Squid Game,” which has not been confirmed by Netflix or the show creators. On top of that, there are emails promising casting opportunities.
The fraudulent emails contain attached Excel forms and documents to fill out. These attachments include macros that, when enabled, plant malware on the recipient’s device.
Here are some tips to avoiding falling victim to this scam and others like it:
- Don’t click links or download attachments from unsolicited messages.
- Don’t enable macros for unfamiliar documents.
- If you’re not sure about a message’s origins, contact the sender directly. Don’t reply to the email, but look up the sender’s contact information elsewhere.
2. Holiday decoration sales
The Better Business Bureau is warning of scammy advertisements for holiday decorations. The ads appear on social media and online search results and depict beautiful decor at very low prices.
If you buy your decorations through these ads, you won’t get what’s advertised. What you will get are low-quality items. You may even get nothing at all and have no way to contact the company for a refund.
Take the following precautions with these types of ads: