The bad guys are never slow to jump on an opportunity. The latest? The launch of the Apple iPhone 4.If you were salivating earlier this week at the sight of Apple launching the new iPhone 4 -- with its sleek, new shell and snazzy features, such as multitasking and face-to-face video calls, then you could be just the person cybercriminals are looking for.

Predictably, Steve Jobs' announcement of the latest Apple gadget dominated the technology headlines -- and thus it was no surprise to see scammers and spammers also take advantage of the news.

iPhone 4 email scam

Just as we've seen with the Apple iPad (where scammers created fake Facebook pages offering free iPads to "beta testers"), expect that there will be a plethora of junk email, bogus websites and fake Facebook groups claiming to offer the iPhone 4.

If you have an interest in computer security, then you might not fall too easily for these ruses -- but can you say the same for your fellow employees? Your Aunty Hilda? Your nephew?

In their hunger for the latest technology, many people are all too willing to throw common sense out of the window and click on unknown links or hand over their personal data to complete strangers.

Don't let excitement about the Apple iPhone 4 mean that you, your family, or friends make mistakes that could cost all of you dearly in the future.

Graham Cluley is senior technology consultant at Sophos, and has been working in the computer security field since the early 1990s. When he's not updating his award-winning other blog on the Sophos website, you can find him on Twitter at @gcluley. Special to Dark Reading.