Internet hackers Royally scam users

While the world celebrated, scammers have taken advantage, kicking into immediate action following the birth of the royal baby.

Their objective? To capitalise on people’s curiosity so as to steal sensitive information, passwords, credit card details and bank credentials.

With Royal Baby George barely a week old, cybercriminals have already been converting the royal news into domain names, with babykingishere.pw registered on July 24 by a registrant from Panama.

So far, the spam domain has pushed promotional hit-and-run spam according to Symantec.

The security solutions provider claims one of the main characteristics of this type of spam is the use of “throw away” domains which redirect traffic to other malicious sites.

Currently, the company is blocking such sites with IP reputation and content filtering.

"Internet users should exercise caution while handling unsolicited or unexpected emails, and ensure the legitimacy of websites while surfing and transacting with them," Symantec warns.

Symantec recommends the following tips to stay safe online:

Do:

• Familiarise yourself with a website’s privacy policy, especially if you are asked to provide confidential and/or personal data

• Be careful about opening attachments, especially from unknown senders

• Install and regularly update firewall, antivirus, and anti-spyware solutions

• Keep your operating system and all your applications updated with the latest security patches

• Create strong passwords using eight characters or more, and a combination of letters, numbers and symbols as well as protect them carefully or consider using password protection software

• Review your bank and credit card statements regularly to make sure there are no unauthorised transactions

• If you think you’ve become a victim of ID theft or cybercrime, report it to the proper authorities immediately

• Always use legitimate security software

Don’t:

• Don’t ever give out your personal information in response to an email, a website you’ve come to through an external link, or a pop-up screen that appears on a real website

• Don’t respond to strange messages or click links

Have you been royally scammed since the birth of Royal Baby George? Tell us your experiences below