While the holidays are filled with celebrations and relaxation with family and friends, they also pose cybersecurity risks from fraudsters hoping to take advantage of these distractions. Signature Bank hopes to help you avoid holiday hazards by sharing some tips for handling potential scams.

Phishing and Smishing Scams

Cybercriminals use email (phishing) and text/SMS (smishing), posing as trusted vendors, partners, or financial institutions. Typically, these messages inspire fear or panic and push for immediate action, with subjects such as the detection of “unusual activity” on your account, or the need to address an unpaid invoice or undeliverable package.

Tips to stay safe: Be sure to verify any suspicious messages independently (before clicking on links) and use tools such as spam filters as a first layer of defense against unwanted emails. Additionally, consider enabling multifactor authentication (MFA) on your banking and financial apps to add an extra layer of protection.

Holiday Charity Scams

Scammers impersonating charities can play on your goodwill during this time of year. Practice caution with unsolicited donation requests from charities with little or suspicious details.

Tips to stay safe: Always verify charities through trusted resources like the Better Business Bureau before contributing, and direct all donations through official channels.

Gift Card Scams

Gift cards are an easy, untraceable way to steal money from unsuspecting businesses. Fraudsters may impersonate company executives or business partners asking for the purchase of gift cards.

Tips to stay safe: Be wary of emails, phone calls, or texts demanding payment via gift cards. If the request appears to come from someone you know, take the time to verify the source before making the purchase. Only purchase cards from trusted retailers, and check the card's packaging for signs of tampering.

Package Delivery Scams

Fake delivery notifications have become a popular way to trick people into sharing sensitive information. With the sheer volume of deliveries during the holiday season, these scams can catch people off guard. 

Tips to stay safe: Verify shipment details directly with carriers. 

Fake Public Wi-Fi Scams

It’s typical for many to use Wi-Fi networks while traveling. During this time of year, cybercriminalscount on people unknowingly connecting to fake public Wi-Fi networks, risking personal and business data.

Tips to stay safe: Be vigilant about checking unsecured or unusually named Wi-Fi networks in airports, hotels, or other public locations. 

Fake E-commerce Sites and Social Media Ads

Fake e-commerce sites have become more sophisticated and are now easily promoted by social media ads designed to lure shoppers to purchase. These sites then capture payment information and other personal data.

Tips to stay safe: Research online retailers thoroughly, check reviews, and verify the website’s URL for signs of authenticity. Also, be sure to use secure payment methods that offer fraud protection.

Travel Scams

With many people traveling through the holiday season scammers have become experts at exploiting fake travel deals, bogus accommodation listings, and fraudulent ticket sales.

Tips to stay safe: Always use well-known booking sites and verify the website’s URL before making any payments. Also, be suspicious of deals that seem too good to be true, and significantly cheaper than the market rate.

Overpayment scams

Overpayment has become another popular way for scammers to make money. This is when someone overpays for products or services and then requests a refund before the original payment is reversed.

Tips to stay safe: If you receive payment for more than the agreed-upon amount, send it back or cancel the order and ask for another payment in the correct amount. In case the sale has already concluded, try to cancel it, and do not agree to return any overpayment.

Heading into the new year is a great time to review passwords and password storage to avoid potential security risks. Strong passwords serve as the first line of defense against hackers gaining access to personal or work accounts. Using the same password across multiple accounts can increase vulnerability, if one password is compromised it can lead to a domino effect, enabling access to all linked accounts.

Did you know that 88% of breached passwords are 12 characters or less?

Consider using strong, unique passwords for each account and a reputable password manager with strong encryption for safe storage of your passwords. Characteristics of a secure and strong password are listed below:

  • At least 12 characters long or more
  • Combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols
  • Not a familiar name, person, character, or product
  • Is not based on your personal information
  • Passwords are unique for each account you have
  • Significantly different from your previously used passwords