Top Internet Safety Tips as Cyber Monday Scams Crest the Horizon

Cyber Monday is said to be one of the most popular shopping days on the Internet. It has been estimated by the National Retail Federation that last year shoppers spent more than $1.2 billion. Although many areas of the world are still slowly recovering from slowing economic conditions, this year is expected to bring in even larger numbers with a heavy influx of criminal activity taking advantage of this popularized 'shopping holiday'.

Rest assured, hackers and cybercrooks have armed themselves with the latest know-how to attack shoppers and the networks used to dish out these 'cyber Monday' deals mostly compromised of online storefronts.

Sometimes deals online are too good to be true and that testament holds true under many unfortunate circumstances. To avoid becoming the a victim during this holiday season, especially on November 26, 2012 dubbed as cyber Monday, heed to our exclusive tips to avoid online shopping scams below.

Top Internet Safety Tips for Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday Safety Tip #1 - Stay away from unknown retailers

Have you ever visited a questionable site selling something that you really want for a price that was unbelievable? You probably have and more than likely you chose to move onto another site because you smelled something fishy. Anytime you run across a deal that seems too good to be true, you should do some research and see if anyone else is offering the same deal. Moreover, you should see if any other online retailers coms close to the deal you have found on a questionable site. Sometimes sites, especially during Cyber Monday, will post outrageous offers to coincide with the 'shopping holiday' just to lure in their next victim. Some of the malicious sites offering these bogus deals may be compromised. Best thing to do is stay close to the larger, trusted retail outlets on the Internet.

Cyber Monday Safety Tip #2 - Be weary of unsolicited links shared by friends or others on social networks

You can almost guarantee that you will find some crazy deal on an item by means of a social networking link. It will usually be something posted on Facebook or Twitter asking that you visit a particular link/site to get the 'deal'. If the link is not recognizable or it uses a URL shortener, try to avoid it. Additionally, beware of friends' email accounts or hacked accounts on Facebook that may send automated messages with links to outrageous cyber Monday or holiday deals. You must ask yourself, does your friend share links to deals like an iPad for 50% off?

Cyber Monday Safety Tip #3 - Be cautious of poisoned search engine results

Cybercrooks are poised to utilized advanced SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques to attack search engine results so they may populate certain cyber Monday-related keyword queries with their own hacked sites. Many of the keywords to be wary of will be specifically related to cyber Monday sales such as 'Christmas bargains', 'holiday sale', 'year end specials' and others. You can always check a link before clicking on it, sometimes by hovering over the link. Also, it may be suggestive to view the content of a particular page to check if keywords or bunched together on a page with random sentences.

Cyber Monday Safety Tip #4 - Avoid and recognize unsolicited emails

Email is still a very effective tool for hackers and cybercrooks to use during the holidays and cyber Monday. Usually spam messages are easy to pick out of the bunch on a normal day. However, in the case of cyber Monday, spam messages and unsolicited emails will be difficult to notice. Many of them will have the tell-tale signs, such as having a subject line of '50% off iPads' or 'save 80% on computers'. The possibilities are virtually endless. Usually, if a deal looks too good to be true, it usually is. Temptation will inevitably get the best of most of us, which is why you should always check the links within email messages before clicking on them by placing your mouse cursor over the link. If the link comes up pointing to shortened URL link or one that looks suspicious with garbled letters, do not click on it. It is as simple as that.

What are some of your cyber Monday experiences been like in the past? Have they always been good, bad, or did you fall for a scam? Do you expect to run into many cyber Monday scams this year and what are your methods for detecting them? Share your story with us by commenting below.