Valentine's Day- Be careful

February 14 or Valentine's Day is that day of the year when you are encouraged to express your love to the special person in your life. Love is such a powerful emotion that can blind even the most vigilant among us to fall into traps set online by unscrupulous elements. In this article, we will give you a few tips that will help you tread carefully on this Valentine's Day and could possibly save you from unwarranted heartaches.

Stay safe on social networking websites

As Valentine's Day is fast approaching, the number of Valentine's related apps on social networking websites such as Facebook have gone into hundreds. These applications offer their providers the opportunity of making money through affiliate marketing and also let them gather information about you. Because it is difficult to ascertain their true motives, it is best to steer clear of such apps, especially if they ask you to grant access to your private information on the social networking website.

Another way of conning unsuspecting people is by the means of apps that supposedly unlock hidden social network site functions, enticing people into going for giveaways or donating to bogus charities. If you see an anonymous message in your inbox with a subject similar to "AnonymousValentine", the only sensible thing to do is to delete the message because it may contain malware.

Stay away from phishing scams

Mails with marketing schemes aimed at this occasion suddenly start arriving in your inbox and most of them are aimed at getting the unwary user to divulge personal or financial details. This can be in the form of an email stating that the gift of flowers or candy you ordered cannot be delivered unless you log in and re-enter for confirmation, your financial details- usually your credit card number. Needless to say, the information you provide will end up with a scammer who can empty your credit card or bank account in just about no time. A better way to gift flowers or other items is to go to the online shopping portal of a well-known florist such as Ferns N Petals or for chocolates, to a known shopping website such as Moksha Chocolates.

Beware of e-card scams

E-cards have been around since the advent of the internet and these are the means of expressing love for many lovebirds. Scammers are well aware of this and therefore e-cards become a very viable means of conning people. This usually starts when you receive an email with a link to open an e-card sent to you by your loved one. Since you know that you have the world's best antivirus installed on your computer, you become careless enough to open the link. A website opens prompting you to do something like updating your Flash player by asking you to allow the installation of an ActiveX control. What actually happens is that a Trojan or backdoor worm gets installed, siphoning all your vital information for the perusal of the scammer. The best and safest way to protect you from such attacks is by not opening and simply deleting such emails.


Don't fall prey to online dating scams

For those who are yet to be bitten by the love bug, online dating sites pose a potential danger. What happens in this case is that the scammer creates a fake profile, which may have all the things you would want in a potential date and this will surely lure you in. When you actually contact the person, you will be more than likely be pleasantly surprised that the person is ready to adapt to however and whatever you want. Your likes and dislikes match perfectly and slowly but surely the scammer gains your trust. Soon enough you will lose your power of discretion and be enticed into actually falling prey to any financial scheme proposed by the supposedly "ideal date". This can be in the form of the scammer asking you to help him/her make emergency payment for a supposedly sick relative or to transfer funds to his/her accounts to let him/her buy tickets so that the two of you meet. You must use your common sense in such cases and being skeptical is always helpful.

Say no to unrealistic savings offers on gift items

Many online shopping sites feature gift articles that are priced at an unrealistically low price and many people fall prey to these ads. Sellers usually offer a piece of jewelry such as a diamond pendant or necklace with exquisite design for very low prices. The advertisements have photographs of the said items and they do look attractive. More often than not, these sellers are with unverified credentials. To make sure about the reputation of a seller, you must make sure that you read comments made by other people. Since even the comments can be forged, it is always better to play safe and not make the mistake of paying for these gift articles.

You should use your common sense to deduce that a gold ornament will cost at least as much as the price of the gold in it plus the cost of designing it. If the price comes to anything less than this, it is definitely a scam and you will surely not be gifting the same thing to your loved one as is claimed in the advertisement.

In conclusion, we would like to say that the best way to gift anything to your Valentine is to go to a shop, buy the gift and hand it over personally to him/her. The look on his/her face is something you would never want to miss.