Cyveillance Warns Consumers to Exercise Caution When Making Online Donations Charitable Phishing Scams Grow Significantly During the Holiday Season Arlington, VA (PRWEB) December 14, 2009 Cyveillance, a world leader in cyber intelligence, today issued a warning to consumers regarding online charitable donation scams during the holiday season. Cyveillance continuously sees cyber criminals launching donation scams to take advantage of unsuspecting people looking to offer help to charities during the holidays. Those who plan to make charitable donations should exercise caution when contributing via online links, whether through traditional means such as email solicitations or nontraditional channels such as social networking sites or blogs. There were over 23,000 confirmed, unique phishing attacks each month during the first half of the year and that number is expected to increase through December. On Thanksgiving alone, Cyveillance saw a 100 percent increase in phishing attacks as compared to the average number of attacks leading up to the holiday. Additionally, phishers continue to be creative in their approach to luring consumers to their fake Web sites for purposes of identity theft and fraud. Cyveillance has recently uncovered multiple new attacks using targets ranging from Web hosting companies to the Center for Disease Control in order to attempt to add credibility to their fraud schemes. As the holidays approach, consumers can expect an even wider range of charities to be targeted for scams. "Internet users need to be wary of online scams when making charitable donations as criminals are counting on the generosity and unsuspecting nature of consumers during the holidays to defraud reputable charity organizations," said Panos Anastassiadis, COO for Cyveillance. "To minimize the risk of falling victim to these attacks, consumers should only access online applications through known and trusted Web sites and avoid clicking on links within emails and social media sites." About Cyveillance
# # #
|
|||||
© Copyright 1997-2012, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC. |