MANILA - Internet security firm Symantec on Tuesday said spammers are capitalizing on the coming Halloween holidays by attempting to steal personal information from email users.
 
Symantec Security Response detected spammers offering free gift cards of various denominations for purchasing gifts. Various online surveys which claim to give out gift cards are also offered.

Clicking on these offers takes users to a website where a wide range of their personal information—including email address, postal address, and phone number—is gathered.

Symantec said product promotions selling replicas, pills, jewellery, or e-cards are sent on various occasions such as Valentine’s Day, Christmas, or New Year’s Eve. Users are advised to ignore any unsolicited emails originating from an unknown source to avoid personal information being jeopardized.

Consumers are advised to:

· Be careful what you click on. Exercise caution when clicking on links from unknown senders.

· Remember never to respond to spam. A response will let the spammer know he has reached an active email address, and this just leads to even more spam. Likewise, clicking on links within a spam email that promises to remove you from the sender's mailing list will again reaffirm the email address is active for the spammer. Delete suspicious email without reading it.

· Get multiple email addresses for multiple purposes. Have one email address specifically for personal use, known only to family, friends and colleagues. Another email address could be used for mailing lists and newsletters, and still another for online inquires and orders.

· Watch where you post your email address. To avoid being caught by bots collecting email addresses, don’t post your full email address on any publicly accessible Web page.

·Deploy protection: Ensure you are using an up-to-date security solution that protects against spam and viruses whilst still allowing legitimate email through. Norton’s 2010 products keep the malicious emails out and let the authentic ones in!