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Planning on a shopping spree this Black Friday or Cyber Monday? Ask yourself these questions before clicking ahead and becoming a scam statistic.
By: Carey van Vlaanderen, Chief Executive Officer at ESET Southern Africa
“Gucci bags 80% off!” screams the email that lands in your inbox on Black Friday. It seems like an impossibly large discount, but you open the email anyway – just to check if it seems legitimate. And it does – it’s professionally compiled, there are no spelling errors, and the logos and merchandise all look like the real deal. So, you click on the link provided. And you shop. Only to see a string of fraudulent charges on your next bank statement.
Black Friday is a lucrative day not only for retailers, but also for cyber criminals. In 2019, the use of retail phishing URLs jumped by 275% the week before Black Friday.
Before going on an online spending spree, ask yourself these questions to stay ahead of scammers:
Apart from jaw-dropping discounts, coupons are also a popular way to reel customers in. According to ESET telemetry, of all the Black Friday-related emails you will get in one day an average of 12% will be spam emails. Again, do not click on any links. Be sure to shop on the real website and apply coupons there by manually typing out the code.
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