Lovebirds Be Forewarned: Valentine's Day Online Scams Spreading Like A Plague This Year

Valentine's Day is upon us and the lovebirds all around the world who celebrate the exclusive day will express their love to their mate through various ways hoping to reciprocate their expressions. Before everyone gets all sappy this Valentine's Day season, we should all adhere to a warning placed by the security vendor Bitdefender of worldwide online Valentine's Day-themed scams, many of which are redirecting users to phishing and fraudulent malware-infected websites.

Valentine's Day has been a historic encounter with online scams for as long almost as long as the Internet has existed. In particular, e-cards have received a bad reputation for being one of the main culprits of scams during times like Valentine's Day. Bitdefender chief security strategist, Catalin Cosoi, has brought attention to popularized Valentine's Day themed scams serving up limousine offers and "heart experts" who claim to heal troubled relationships.

Among popular Valentine's Day scams this year, BitDefender sends out a stern warning to those who use online services for dating, social media love, and even lovebird getaways. There is a new onslaught of websites specifically designed to target lovebirds this Valentine's Day where many of them were specially crafted to collect personal information and eventually leading to money extortion.

Cosoi, along with many other computer security analysts, are seeing an abundance of Valentine's Day scams use all available avenues, such as sending e-cards, lacing emails with links to poisoned search results to install Trojans, including malicious attachments on Valentine's Day messages and even seeking out the thrifty Valentine's Day online shoppers. The scamming possibilities are almost endless.

Social networks, such as Facebook, are also feeling the Valentine's Day scam pinch as scammers are dishing out similar schemes. In addition to social networks, Android apps, and Valentine's Day games downloaded from questionable or unofficial marketplaces online are known to circulate apps that install adware or malware.

What can you do to ensure your online safety this Valentine's Day?

For those who still want to be "effective" lovebirds while still taking to the internet to show your love for your partner can still do so but must utilize caution. With the abundant number of Valentine's Day scams circulating, now more than ever before, one cannot afford to take risks by seeking untrusted or unknown sources online. It is best to use reputable online stores or services for sharing your Valentine's Day love online.

Top 10 Tips for being safe online during Valentine's Day

1. Never accept an offer that seems too good to be true even if the offer wants to send you and your lovebird on a vacation to a secluded island.
2. Avoid opening attachments or clicking on links from unknown email senders even if it appears to be a secret admirer. If the secret admirer wants your attention that bad, they will find another way to get it.
3. Be suspicious of e-cards that include links in the message. Usually, you can hover over a link to see where it will redirect your browser to. If the URL looks suspicious do not click on it.
4. Never download apps for your smartphone or computer from unofficial sources. It is always best to download apps from official app stores on the internet.
5. Be sure to keep your software updated along with running an updated antispyware application on your system to proactively stop malware infections.
6. Utilize privacy settings on your social networks, especially Facebook, to block people that are not your friend from contacting you or sending potentially dangerous Valentine's Day apps, messages or links.
7. Treat all message as a suspect. Even if a message appears to be from a friend, keep in mind hackers are able to compromise accounts to impersonate people for the purpose of spreading malware.
8. Limit how much personal information you give up when sending something like an e-card to someone.
9. Avoid sharing questionable links or statuses on social networks. Some links can literally break someone's heart if it is such a link to redirect your friend to a malicious site laced with malware.
10. Guard your heart by limiting how much personal information and details you share online or on social networks. Cybercrooks, or even some friends may use anything you post against you in ways you never thought of.