This post comes from James Limbach at partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
With Black Friday and Cyber Monday just around the corner, consumers are urged to beware of the most commons scams of the season.
To help you do that, McAfee, the Internet security firm, has revealed its "12 Scams of Christmas" -- the 12 most dangerous online scams that computer users should be cautious of this holiday season.
"Scams continue to be big business for cybercriminals who have their sights set on capitalizing on open hearts and wallets this holiday season," said Dave Marcus, director of security research for McAfee Labs. "As people jump online to look for deals on gifts and travel, it's important to recognize common scams to safeguard against theft during the busy season ahead."
Here, then, are McAfee's 12 scams of Christmas:
IPad offer scams. With Apple products topping many shopping lists this holiday season, scammers are busy distributing bogus offers for free iPads. In the spam version of the scam, consumers are asked to purchase other products and provide their credit card number to get the free iPad. Of course, victims never receive the iPad or the other items -- just the headache of reporting a stolen credit card number.
In the social media version of the scam, users take a quiz to win a free iPad and must supply their cell phone number to receive the results. In actuality they are signed up for a cell phone scam that costs $10 a week. Post continues after video.
"Help! I've been robbed" scam. This travel scam sends phony distress messages to family and friends requesting that money be wired or transferred so that the "victim" can get home. McAfee Labs says there's been an increase in this scam and predicts its rise during the busy travel season.
Fake gift cards. Cybercrooks use social media to promote fake gift card offers with the goal of stealing consumers' money and information, which is then sold to marketers or used for ID theft.
One recent Facebook scam offered a "free $1,000 Best Buy gift card" to the first 20,000 people who signed up for a Best Buy fan page, which was a look-alike. To apply for the gift card they had to provide personal information and take a series of quizzes.
Holiday job offers. As people seek extra cash for gifts this holiday season, Twitter scams offer dangerous links to high-paying, work-at-home jobs that ask for your personal information, such as your e-mail address, home address and Social Security number, to apply for the fake job.
Smishing. Cybercrooks are now "smishing," or sending phishing SMS texts. These texts appear to come from your bank or an online retailer saying that there is something wrong with an account and you have to call a number to verify your account information. In reality, these efforts are merely a ruse to extract valuable personal information from the targets.
Cybercrooks know that people are more vulnerable to this scam during the holiday season when they're doing more online shopping and checking bank balances frequently.
