Similar to the Holiday e-cards scam, this one comes as a downloadable item on your computer or phone. You want a specific song to be your ringtone (or a picture to be your wallpaper), maybe during the holidays. That’s when you go on the Internet and look for it.

Unfortunately, several ringtone and wallpaper “providers” are just scammers who will wrap the file into a virus or key logger – software that records what keys you press and then access your personal files.

Another version of the scam is that the ads you find require you to send a text message to a certain number and then get unlimited free ringtones or wallpapers. The fraud happens when you send the text message – you are automatically signing up for a service that will charge you silently a few dollars a month.

How to avoid: always get ringtones and wallpapers only from reputable sellers, which you can find by extensive research.