During the hectic holiday season, many shoppers rely on the convenience and speed of shopping online. If you"re among them, be sure to use the same level of caution on the Web that you would use at a crowded mall or gift shop. Otherwise you could be taken advantage of by malicious individuals. And unfortunately this year, the holiday shopping season is coinciding with a rise in spoofing on the Web.
In a spoofing attack, you can be misled into visiting a malicious website. The site typically tries to trick you into taking some type of unsafe action. These attacks are becoming more common and are hard to detect, so all shoppers need to be cautious about the websites they visit and the actions they take.
Malicious hackers and virus writers can lure you to their spoofed websites, where you can be tricked into downloading a harmful virus or revealing personal information. They can do this by sending you deceptive e-mail or by enticing you to click a link to a malicious website.