In this issue:

• Threat of the week: Travel website scams

• Malicious software (malware) on AI video websites

• Let me know if there’s a topic you want me to cover

Travel website scams

Vacation season is heating up and so are the scammers. You might not even know it until your credit card is compromised or you show up for your flight, hotel, car rental, or tour and there is no reservation for you.

It often starts when you use Google or other search engines to do your travel planning. Scam travel sites are prolific in the search results and they use ads to rank higher in the searches.

Scammers take advantage of searches such as "cheap hotels in …" and "cheap car rentals." They offer great prices to lure you in. Everything seems legitimate until your travel starts or fraudulent charges show up on your credit cards.

Tips for safely planning trips:

• Only use official websites and travel consolidators: Google Flights has great comparisons of airlines and airfares. Expedia.com is good for car rentals. Hotels.com for hotels. If you are unsure of a link, please send it to me and I'll try to see if it's legitimate.

• NEVER select a website or phone number from "Sponsored Results" or "Advertiser" because these websites can be owned by scammers. Always scroll past the ads to get to the regular search results for official websites that have been around for a while. And only trust phone numbers on the official websites.

• NEVER pay for travel on non-secure payment sites (only go to sites with "https" in the URL), with gift cards, or through cash platforms such as Venmo and Zelle.

• NEVER use a debit card for travel. Scammers can drain your checking account in less than a minute. Note that credit card protections only exist for a certain period of time, so if it's been past 90 days since booking, you may not receive any money back from a scam or a travel partner who goes out of business.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is a scam.

Malicious software on AI video websites

Using AI to generate art, writings, and even videos has exploded across the internet in the last few years. Most of the websites are harmless, but a new threat comes from AI-generated video websites that include malicious software in the files downloaded from the site.

For over a year, criminals having been creating dangerous websites mimicking legitimate tools such as Canva AI, Luma AI, and Kling AI.

Criminals are using advertisements and posts on Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn to lure people to their fake websites. On these fake websites, unsuspecting users upload images they want to turn to video.

It seems completely plausible that since videos are large files, the website would compress ("zip") the file to make it smaller for downloading the video. Instead of downloading a video, however, the user downloads malicious software (called malware).

How to reduce the risk:

• If you aren't sure it's a legitimate website, go to this website checker (https://www.bitdefender.com/en-us/consumer/link-checker), paste the website link into the text field, and click "Check URL". It will tell you the risk level of the website.

• Always run virus scanning software on your computer.

• Be extra vigilant when downloading files, especially ZIP and EXE files.

If you are unsure of a website, please send the link to me and I'll try to see if it's legitimate.

Do you have an idea for a future newsletter? Please reply to this email and let me know.

Thank you so much!

Sincerely,
Cassie Crossley
Founder, Cyber Safe Center
https://www.cybersafecenter.com