Valentines Day E-Card Scam

TO CLICK OR NOT TO CLICK? VALENTINE'S DAY E-CARD SCAMS Valentine's Day is the second largest holiday for giving greeting cards, second only to Christmas, and e-cards are being sent to loved ones more than ever. But when are e-cards safe to open, and how can you tell which links are safe and which are not? We provide these answers to help you enjoy genuine greetings. SENDING A CARD THIS VALENTINE'S DAY? 52% 85% 52 percent of Americans plan to An estimated 500 million e-cards are Women send approximately 85 percent of all valentines. 15 MILLION 150 MILLION e-valentines are traditional valentines send a Valentine's sent every year. are sent every year.* sent each year worldwide. Day greeting card every year. *Not including packaged kids' valentines for classroom exchanges E-card scams come in all shapes and forms, such as phishing scams, spam, a spyware installer, or a computer virus. BIGGEST E-CARD DANGERS DORMANT VIRUSES ATTACHMENT ATTACK Some e-cards will come in the A virus may lie dormant for awhile, so when your computer is infected you won't know it was that e-valentine from a not-so-loving secret admirer. form of an enticing attachment that could download malware onto your computer. SCAMMERS WANT TO STEAL YOUR INFO, NOT YOUR HEART ACCESS TO YOUR ADDRESS BOOK CHNSMITH ADDRESS BOOK STEAL HY IDENTITY They do so by requesting that you update or verify your billing information such as your credit card, checking account info, address, and Social Security number to complete your delivery. If a cybercriminal gains access to your computer, your contact list may also be at risk of receiving v-day malware. PHONY FRIENDS SOCIAL MEDIA Trojan viruses have the ability to make an e-card look like it is coming from a friend. E-cards containing malware can come through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. TELL-TALE SIGNS OF A FAKE E-CARD 404 FROM HALMARK Errors in the message or URL that have you scratching your head Misspelled words or names FROM JRE 345S The sender isn't someone The sender's name you know is obviously made up WITH LOVE HOW TO AVOID E-VALENTINE TROUBLE ??? FROM GIVE US YOUR SSN ANTI VIRUS ? Read the fine print to make sure they are not asking you for any personal information or When in doubt, don't open it and delete it. Install a two-way firewall. Beware of Never open Install antivirus suspicious links on social network sites. Don't click. Report them! an attachment software and from an unknown keep it up to date. source. access to your address book. SOURCES: GREETINGCARD.ORG, HALLMARK.COM, COMPLAINTSBOARD.COM, ZONEALARM.COM Z ZONEALARM by Check Point"