Holiday shopping online: How to avoid the '12 cyber scams of Christmas'

With more Americans turning to the Internet for more of their holiday shopping needs, good cybersecurity is vital to avoid a raft of scams – from promises of "free iPads" to "holidays screensavers" that install malware on your computer. Here are the "12 cyber scams of Christmas." 

11. Fraudulent promotions and contests

Yuriko Nakao/REUTERS/File
An online contest to win free roundtrip airfare to Hawaii? Be very careful.

It might seem nice to win free prizes or get a great deal at the holidays. But cyber ripoff artists have "sprinkled Facebook with phony promotions and contests aimed at gathering personal information," McAfee reports.

One recent scam, for instance, advertised two free airline tickets, but "required participants to fill out multiple surveys requesting personal information."

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