4 Common Cybersecurity Valentine’s Day Scams to Watch For

Don't have your heart or network broken during this season of love. These common Valentine’s Day scams are designed to steal information and infiltrate computers and networks. Individuals need to exercise immense caution when online dating and should be aware of the many forms of threats out there.

1. Scammers on Dating Sites

Sometimes our natural desire to find companionship can be our downfall. For those seeking love online, it can be a very dangerous path to tread. Many cyber criminals lurk in the shadows looking to take advantage of people to trick them into sending money, sharing sensitive information, or giving up login credentials to important accounts.

People will tell you false names, use fake or stolen images, and use all your publicly available information to tailor a scam just for you.

The FBI has some simple tips to help keep you from falling victim to romance-related phishing scams:

2. Valentine’s Related Spam and Phishing

One of the most common overall cyberattacks is also very common, and effective, during the Valentine’s Day season. Aside from the usual phishing stuff you’ll see, there are two additional, very common phishing scams you’ll see during this time of year.

First is a floral scam. Messages warning you about expiring deals or, most commonly, alerts that your flower order can’t be delivered without logging in or re-submitting your credit card information, address, or personal information. This may sound easy to avoid for people who aren’t ordering flowers, but the scammers send these to so many people that it eventually does reach those with important flower deliveries being expected.

In a similar vein, some scammers will send messages like the flower-related ones, but with vague information on an expected package. This has the same goal as the flower scam in that it hopes to create worry about important packages or gifts being lost in hopes you’ll give away sensitive information.

3. Valentine’s e-Card Attacks

Sending and receiving Valentine’s Day cards is a time-honored tradition that starts when we’re young. Nothing beats getting a card from a secret admirer or a loved one to feel special. But unfortunately, scammers know this and have crafted ways to use these feelings against you.

An e-card scam occurs when a scammer sends you a Valentine’s Day card, often disguised as coming from a traditional card retailer (Hallmark, 123 cards, etc.), but with the goal of getting you to click on a malicious link.

They’ll sucker you in with messages about how your secret admirer sent you something like a gift card or a lovely message. But, instead of a heartfelt declaration of love, you’ll click on a link and get some sort of virus.

To tell a fake e-card from a real one, look for these signs:

1. Misspelled words or names
2. Odd errors in the message or the link URL (you don’t have to click the link to see the URL)
3. Made up sender names or coming from someone you don’t know

4. Online Shopping Scams

Valentine’s Day is also a very popular shopping day which naturally exposes more people to online shopping scams that are looking to steal personal information, credit card numbers, and more.

Online shopping scams during Valentine’s can take many different forms, including:

- Imposter Websites: Scammers will set up entire websites to fool you into buying fake products at extremely low prices (or even free). Remember to keep this in mind when searching online for anything, especially during Valentine’s Day when scammers will up their game to take advantage of the emotions of the holiday. - Fake Deals: Someone may offer you an incredible deal on flowers, jewelry, chocolates, garments, and more. This offer can come via email, text, as an ad on social media, or through a phone call, but will always include some sort of great deal or free products.

The Better Business Bureau has a list of “red flags” that they recommend everyone know and actively reference when shopping during this time of the year. They are:

1. A business with no reviews or very bad ones
2. No return policy or satisfaction guarantee
3. Deals that are ”too good to be true” (they usually are!)
4. Products at extreme discounts
5. Unreachable customer service lines
6. Payments for products requested using cryptocurrency or cash transfer apps (PayPal, Venmo, etc.)

Why Do Businesses Care About Valentine’s Day Scams?

Valentine’s Day scams may seem like attacks that only affect a singular lovestruck or lonely person. But, for businesses, it’s also important to understand these risks because those same sappy sweethearts make up the human element of your cybersecurity system. If one person in your company falls victim to an attack like the ones below, it could expose your entire network to cybercriminals.

How can you stay secure from attacks targeting individual people? Educate them and make cybersecurity awareness an often-thought-about topic for your teams so they understand what threats look like and what to do if they suspect they might be the target of one.

Learn more about the importance of cybersecurity and training and how you can get started implementing them into your business in our blog, The Importance of Cybersecurity Awareness, Training, and Education.