Tweet

“[I]‘m going to watch you and monitor your telephone line.”

“Your internet access is going to get suspended.”

“Someobdy uplaod a vdieo wtih you on utbue”

Halloween is fast approaching and it’s that time of the year when scaring people is the most popular form of entertainment. However, not all spooks this season may end up in good-natured merriment. Cybercriminals may take this opportunity to scare users with their tricks, which include spammed messages, poisoned search results, spammed tweets with dubious links and Facebook clickjacking attacks. If not wary of these schemes, users may end up becoming victims of information theft, system infection, and even financial loss.

These cybercriminal scare tactics are not new. As seen in the links above, for years we have seen attempts to alarm users to trick them to do things they won’t normally do – open attachments, click links, and pay for fake costly items and antivirus software. The truth is that these bad guys have had some level of success in this field. As proof, a recent blackhat SEO campaign that managed to generate 300 million hits from 113 million visitors in just one month of operation.

It is time for users to conquer their fears. Below is an infographic that provides a quick run-through of common tricks and threats that users may encounter online. We have also included some tips on how to detect and prevent shams to ensure that users’ online experience are safe and spook-free.

Click here for a detailed look at the thumbnail image below.