Dec. 12 (UPI) — The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection issued a holiday cyberfraud advisory Thursday.
The advisory highlights tips for consumers to avoid online and cyber scams during the holiday season, suggesting actions to take to protect against fraud.
“The U.S. Department of the Treasury urges consumers to stay vigilant against the increasing threat of online cyber scams and fraud,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for OCCIP Todd Conklin in a statement. “These scams are costing both consumers and financial institutions billions of dollars annually, and it’s crucial to take proactive steps to protect yourself.”
Among the warnings are being cautious when responding to unsolicited messages, especially on social media platforms like LinkedIn, TikTok, and Instagram.
Consumers are also urged to avoid being rushed into making purchases or payments. Instead, consumers are advised to take time to think it through, research and consult with trusted people in order to not fall victim to fraud.
Specifically, the Treasury Department said consumers should beware of urgent account notifications, secure all devices and accounts, always verify websites and emails and avoid clicking links or responding at all to unsolicited requests.
Treasury also advised consumers to not trust caller ID as scammers can spoof phone numbers, making it appear that the messages are coming from trusted sources.
Rather than responding to unsolicited messages, consumers should initiate contact themselves when contacting businesses or institutions for purchases or payments.
Other tips to avoid cybercrime include never sharing sensitive information, buying only from reputable, known merchants and always practicing safe online behavior with account log-ins, passwords and social security numbers.
The Treasury Department said consumers are being targeted through popular social media platforms and with wrong number texts.
An analysis of spam data by the email validation program ZeroBounce found the top five dangerous words in email scams are “income,” “investment,” “credit,” “billion” and “free.”
Treasury explained that scammers often use these high-impact words to boost the chance that consumers will fall for it and click links to respond to the scam messages.
Strengthening account security with two-factor authorization is also recommended by Treasury.
Using credit cards for online shopping offers fraud protection and Treasury advised consumers to never let strangers or anyone else insist that you pay for goods and services with gift cards.
