Five Tips For Keeping Your Head While You Lose Your Heart<\/i><\/p>\n
Melbourne, 7 February 2013.<\/strong>\u00a0 Whether you decide upon flowers, chocolates or something a little more unusual as the perfect symbol of your affection this Valentine\u2019s Day, make sure you take extra precautions when ordering online. That\u2019s the advice being given by AVG Technologies AU who believe that as more and more expressions of love are being bought online, buyers\u2019 heightened states of emotion may bring increased risks to their browsing computer or mobile device, and their online identity.<\/p>\n Michael McKinnon, Security Advisor at AVG, explains: \u201cThe kinds of emotions involved in Valentine\u2019s Day preparations, whether love or total panic in some cases, can often cause people to act without their usual level of care. The danger is that we become so focused on the act of giving or receiving affection that we become less alert to the tricks of cybercriminals looking to prey on our vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n \u201cYoung or old, we all still love the idea of having an admirer. The consequence of this is that we are much more likely to accept an unsolicited Facebook friend request or email offer, if sent at the right time of year,\u201d McKinnon continues.<\/p>\n Valentine\u2019s Day is one the largest days of the year for retailers and a boon for online crime as cybercriminals try to take advantage of the increased activity to cause as much damage as possible. Viral posts through social media are the new spam email, as are Twitter worms such as \u201cAre these pictures of you?\u201d Invitations to download apps \u2018designed\u2019 for Valentine\u2019s Day can be a trap, particularly if you accept them from free marketplaces. Spam and e-greeting cards also continue to be popular in the lead up to Valentine\u2019s Day simply because they are effective at tricking people into clicking on malicious links.<\/p>\n Cybercriminals may also try to target unsuspecting users thanks to impulse message sending via unfamiliar sites and last minute gift purchasing. Enticements such as \u201cOrder online today for fast delivery using this special discount code\u201d could solve your problem, as long as the fast delivery they\u2019re promising is for flowers and not malware.<\/p>\n With so many teens and adults now browsing and shopping using small screened smartphones and tablets there are risks to online activity because you can\u2019t always see the full web address. Criminals may add to the end of legitimate URL addresses taking shoppers to corrupt sites.<\/p>\n The same potential lies in QR Codes displaying Valentine\u2019s Day advertisements. The danger lies not in the codes themselves but in what can lie at the other end. When you use your smartphone to scan a QR Code, you are taken directly to the site without its URL being displayed or you being asked first if you want to go there.<\/p>\n AVG\u2019s five safety tips for sending and receiving genuine online affection are:<\/p>\n