Warning to all Online Shoppers to prevent Scams during holiday! ~ ZagaTech Philippines

MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos looking to beat the Christmas rush by doing their holiday shopping online would have to be extra careful, an anti-virus firm said, as cyber criminals are currently on the prowl against unsuspecting online users looking to tick off their gifts list online.
Russian IT security firm Kaspersky Lab said users of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter should practice extra precaution, as cyber thieves have crafted scams specifically targeted to these popular online sites.

Kaspersky sounded off particularly on phishing scams–where users are lured into a fake site that looks a lot like their bank’s — that may come in the form of viral videos, direct messages on Twitter, cloned retailer websites and “too-good-to-be-true” deals.

“Phishing messages use deceptive information or fake websites in order to get consumers to disclose personal or financial information,” the security firm explained.

Filipinos are known to be frugal when it comes to giving gifts, but Kaspersky cautioned those who are looking to save a buck or two against discounts and deals that may eventually rob them of more money.

“A recent Facebook scam featured a Starbucks gift card, telling Facebook users if they re-posted the fake message, they would receive a $50 gift card. Similar scams have appeared promising cheap or even free iPads,” Kaspersky pointed out.

“If a deal is too good to be true, it probably is,” it added.
In the same vein, the company stressed that even though users generally trust the connections they have on social networks, they should still be wary about divulging personal information that could be used by criminals to break into their online accounts.

“By trusting a seemingly safe post, game, or even group on Facebook, you could accidently enter into a world of spam,” it added.

To protect themselves against cybercriminals’ ploys on social networks, Kaspersky advised users to “type in the URL instead of clicking a particular link,” to prevent them from visiting a potentially malicious website.

The security software provider also reminded users to “install updates on [their] antivirus software” to ensure that they are protected against the latest types of viruses.

To make sure that online consumers are protected against these kinds of scams, Senator Edgardo Angara urged the government to pass Senate Bill 2796, also known as the Cybercrime Prevention Act.
“Cybercrime is a silent epidemic,” Angara noted. “People are aware that it is happening, or have even experienced it, but they are often uncertain how to deal with it and which agency should cybercrime victims report to. Is it the PNP, NBI, DTI or the bank?”

The Senator, also the chair of the Congressional Commission on Science & Technology and Engineering (COMSTE), also said the government “ought to be more active in protecting the interests of online consumers.”

Angara made the call amid reports of rise in cybercrime incidents in the country, ranging from identity theft to hacking and even cyber prostitution.

Just recently, the Philippine National Police reported that reports of cybercrime in the Philippines were on the rise, reporting as much as 109 cases of various cyber attacks as of end-November.
PNP-Anti-Transnational and Cyber Crime Division (PNP-ATCCD) Police Inspector Felizardo Eubra, Jr., however, stressed that these are only the ones reported to the agency, as some victims are not even aware that they have already been victimized.

“There are those that go unreported,” Eubra said in an earlier report. “This is just the tip of the iceberg. No one is safe from these types of attacks, more so if you’re a company because attackers will target those that they see as more lucrative especially because of the information they keep.”
Angara said that once the measure is passed into law, computer users would be protected from illegal access, interference of data and systems and misuse of devices such as computer programs and stealing of passwords.