Holiday Season Phishing Scams and Malware Campaigns

Original release date: November 19, 2013

As the winter holidays approach, US-CERT reminds users to stay aware of seasonal scams and cyber campaigns, which may include:

  • electronic greeting cards that may contain malware
  • requests for charitable contributions that may be phishing scams and may originate from illegitimate sources claiming to be charities
  • screensavers or other forms of media that may contain malware
  • credit card applications that may be phishing scams or identity theft attempts
  • online shopping advertisements that may be phishing scams or identity theft attempts from bogus retailers
  • shipping notifications that may be phishing scams or may contain malware

US-CERT encourages users and administrators to use caution when encountering these types of email messages and take the following preventative measures to protect themselves from phishing scams and malware campaigns:


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