Santa isn’t the only one who should check to see who’s naughty or nice during the holiday season!  A popular scam known as smishing (a combination of “phishing” and the term SMS (Short Message Service) tries to highjack personal information via text messages disguised as free gift card offers from leading retail stores. The texts encourage users to click on a link to claim their “special prize”, a gift card in varying amounts. After clicking on a fake URL, the “winners” are instructed to fill out a form with credit card numbers and other personal data so that a “grift” card can be applied directly to the accounts. In reality, the information is sent to hackers who use the funds to do THEIR shopping and open other accounts for their personal use. Ho, Ho, Ho the scammers win and unsuspecting consumers lose their money. Continue reading →