Beware of the Halloween Cyber Tricks

Like any other holiday, the fraudsters have taken it upon themselves to divulge in some deceiving trickery for Halloween. It was just this morning that I received a bogus Halloween eCard from my friend Peter, but if only I had a friend named Peter. The eCard was only the latest phishing scheme decorated with festive jack-o-lanterns to distract me from the pure fact that everything in the card was fake and would probably only lead me to a virus-infested website or worse. 

Halloween is a great holiday filled with almost all of my favorite things: candy, tiaras and scary movies.Make sure you can enjoy today by not falling for these common Halloween scams:

1. Halloween phishing emails: If an offer looks too good to be true, it probably is. One common scam last year promised free pumpkin cut-outs, but instead only delivered a Trojan virus. Hover over any links within the email to see where it is actually directing taking you.
2. Fake event tickets: If you're looking to go to a party or event for Halloween, make sure you are buying tickets from a legitimate seller. There have been several reports of counterfeit tickets being sold for pumpkin patches, costume parties and haunted houses. Downloading electronic tickets can be tricky, so double check to make sure the dates, times and locations are all legitimate.
3. Buying costumes online: Often shoppers turn to online costume shops for better prices, but the buyer must beware. Some online costume shops, despite their appearance, are completely bogus. Customers order costumes and they never arrive. Watch out for online auction sites as well. Check out user reviews and comments before making any purchases.

Check out this video from King5 for some helpful tips on avoiding Halloween scams!