Thanksgiving and Black Friday holiday cyber crimes
December 06, 2022 | By Admin
(18 votes, average: 4.61 out of 5, rated)
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Beware Of Fraud Attempts
Our favorite season of the year is around the corner and many online shopping deals are difficult to pass over. Shoppers look for exciting offers to buy their favorite gadgets, home needs, toys, clothes, and whatever other products they have had their eyes on in the past.
The days when people go as a family to purchase their favourite things from their favourite store are scarce due to the ease of online shopping which offers people the ability to shop in the comfort of their homes and at all hours of the day and night.
Yet this convenience is also shared by those looking to do nefarious acts.
Hackers find sophisticated methods to steal sensitive information from users and organizations for monetary benefits. They take advantage of the online shopping surge during the holiday season as shoppers are on the hunt for incredible savings.
As consumers and merchants prepare for the busiest shopping season of the year, they should practice caution and be wary of bad actors that create fraudulent websites and emails that claim to provide offers and deals that are too good to be true.
It's prime time for fraud attempts that peak on Thanksgiving Day, starting on Black Friday and lasting through Cyber Monday. Both consumers and website owners must be extremely cautious and aware of any possible fraudulent scams.
Famous Black Friday Shopping Scams
Everyone loves a great deal. Most great deals are tied to a limited-time offer requiring immediate action on such deals. Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are no different. Shoppers are quick to pull the trigger to buy and snatch up that limited time offer that only comes along that one day of the year.
This presents an opportunity for online scammers to exploit the weakness of careless shoppers and website owners.
A myriad of malicious Black Friday websites and apps loaded with scams are crafted by the scammers to steal sensitive data like credit card information, personal data, login credentials and even the most confidential financial information.
During the demanding season of the year like Cyber Monday and Black Friday hackers develop malicious landing pages masking it with well-known reputed brands so that it looks extremely similar to those genuine sites. Their offers look so close to the real deal that it may be convincing enough so that shoppers are fooled into downloading malicious apps or even worse trick buyers into giving them their sensitive data.
They find ways to circulate the scam mails through social media platforms like twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc, days ahead of Black Friday claiming false promises with deals like 90% discount on Amazon.com. Consumers must be extra careful that a team from Amazon tweeted "Please don't share your order/account/personal details on such websites."
Another commonly used hack technique is when a Black Friday scam frame scam URLs - whereas the URL is short. Mobile browsers who do a lot of browsing on mobile phones come across short URLs on their phone. The fact that the URL is shorter makes it easier for the customers to overlook the full URL on their mobile device, making it challenging for them to see the true address of the site and thus unable to identify whether it is genuine or simply another scam site.
Ways to Protect Yourself This Black Friday
- Have a check on Your Smartphone:
Your smartphone allows us to have all of our sensitive data at the palms of our hands. But then this can also be accessible to unwanted users. Hackers find it as a resource for sensitive information and find ways to gain access to your smartphone. It is therefore more than necessary to run security checks on your smartphone, even if you have installed the latest of security technologies on it.
- Verify Websites:
Some online Black Friday deals are too good to believe.These unrealistic deals are crafted to redirect you to the malicious website as you click on them. Stay away from such phishing scams.
- Take Precaution when you swipe:
EMV chip cards were introduced for better protection of POS. Cyber thieves target merchant POS processing system to steal card information. The use of one-time passcodes would render protection as the passcode is valid only for a limited time as a result, a malicious hacker cannot gain access even when the passcode is stolen.
- Use secure Wi-Fi connections:
Avoid staying connected to the internet through public hotspots in specific, avoid dealing with financial transactions or online purchases or anything to deal with sensitive information when connected to a public hotspot.
Check Your Account Statements Regularly:
Have a regular check of your credit card statement to check if there are any fraudulent transactions.- Update software:
You might have the latest security software installed in your system, however, it is more important to ensure that all the software including the security software is up-to-date. As hackers find a way to exploit the vulnerability found in outdated applications or software.
Black Friday advice
Black Friday advice to retailers
Understand your clientele, and know what your compliance requirements are
Encrypt customer data both when static and in transit
Ensure effective cloud security is in place and takes control of your encryption keys
Implement penetration testing and vulnerability assessments on all devices and networks.
Recruit inhouse data security experts
Black Friday advice for shoppers
Avoid clicking unsolicited links or attachments
Beware of suspicious emails or pop-up ads on websites that claims to promise deals that are too good to be true
Think before you click on any advertisements and do not fall for the tagline This day only!
How to Stay safe in the wild
Here are some simple tips to follow to stay safe in the wild
It's a no rocket science for businesses and consumers to stay safe and ahead of Black Friday online frauds
Be Wary by default Do not open any suspicious email and it is always a good practice to go directly to the retailers website by typing in the website address on the address bar.
Create separate email address If you are interested to get notified on the Black Friday alerts, it is advisable to create a separate email id for the same.
Use separate Credit card If you are an online shopper, it is advisable to have a separate credit card exclusively for online purchases. This would mitigate your losses when attacked.
Deliver Security Awareness Training All the employees need to be aware of the possible cyber threats. Enforce effective training methods to train employees and other users of an organization to protect the company and customer data from security breaches.
Happy Black Friday, So Here are the Big Offers
Google Play offers some discounted entertainment in honor of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. You can check out the deals through the Play Store Cyber Week portal. And there are many more deals yet from Amazon and Walmart for more Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday savings.
Above all it is more important to stay secure while you are busy availing discounts online use an effective security solution like cWatch website security application software.
Online shoppers can check the security of a website through our website security scanner. The cWatch Web Site Scanner will scan a website in minutes and give you're a security score rating to give you better insight as to whether the site has protection enabled.
Website owners should provide a safe and secure online experience for their visitors. cWatch Web is offering an incredible Black Friday and Cyber Monday deal on their yearly PRO plan. For less than $1 a week websites can now be protected against hackers and malicious malware with enterprise grade security solution.
Now more than ever shoppers, business owners, and brand owners alike need to establish a safe and secure online experience.
