Stay away from events that can activate your emotions
There are many events that can make you introduce your personal data, such as different contests, tickets, social causes or shopping promotions. So, it is important to avoid these types of ‘opportunities’ because they can be provided by hackers.Â
“I would advise you to be especially vigilant during events that may arouse our emotions. These may be sports tournaments or shopping opportunities but also changes in law or taxes. Such events can be used by hackers to conduct phishing attacks. Criminals can manipulate our emotions or information and rely on an ignorance of the issue and their negative emotions, such as stress, time pressure, or fear of financial losses. What should we watch out for? Contests and promotions that offer tickets for matches, impersonating a tax office or bank and sending infected ‘instructions,’ or urging you to pay for items that are essentially free,” explained Ole Brockhuus, CEO of SpotTheSpy.