Ask Andy: 5 scams of Christmas - KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar Bluff

Ask Andy: 5 scams of Christmas

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MEMPHIS, TN -

(WMC TV) - The emerging holiday scams center on the two "T's" -- technology and travel.

According to McAfee and FraudAvengers.org, these are the five scams of Christmas:  

* SOCIAL MEDIA SCAMS. Ignore those phony ads on Facebook and your Twitter feed for contests or work-at-home offers, even if they look like they're coming from someone you know.

* MALICIOUS MOBILE APPS. Download apps only from the official app stores. Study up on the apps' privacy and permission policies and check those user reviews.

* TRAVEL SCAMS. Look out for bogus holiday travel offers via e-mail, web or postcards. Be especially careful using public Wi-Fi networks at the airport and malls. They could be compromised.

* Don't click on HOLIDAY SPAM & PHISHING messages, no matter how merry they may seem.

* Expect FAKE IPHONE & IPAD OFFERS to be abundant.

McAfee's holiday list names seven more scams. Find them when you click on the link in the second graph of this story.

Outside of these scams, I've noticed in your e-mails an up-tick in those phony sweepstakes and foreign lottery scams this holiday. All foreign lotteries are fake, and if you didn't enter a sweepstakes, you can't win a sweepstakes.

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