Last year 48% of all Christmas gifts were bought online
Whether you are a Christmas lover or hater, there’s a pretty big chance that you will be purchasing most of your gifts online this year.
However, as online shopping platforms become busier during the winter season, it’s no secret that cyber attackers are going to advantage of that. It’s the perfect opportunity to catch you out when you are least expecting it (or are too busy to notice).
Keep reading to find out the telling signs of Christmas cyber scams, and tips to avoid them during the festive season!
What’s a Christmas scam?
The minute that those Christmas ads start, we are immediately exposed to a variety of upselling opportunities, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Christmas cyber scams are unauthorised and fraudulent activities that target vulnerable individuals during the festive season.
Cyber attackers mainly look to target unsuspecting users with the aim to gain personal data, which often involves some form of financial profit. This can be through obtaining the individuals’ credit card details, or other personal information.
4 common online scams to look out for this Christmas
Fake Websites
What’s the easiest way to catch out busy online shoppers? The answer is by creating a fake website. Most commonly, these fraudulent websites will try to identically copy and impersonate an already established and trusted online business. Their goal is to trick you into purchasing a legitimate looking product that you believe to be sold by the advertised seller. This, therefore, shares your personal and financial details with the cyber attacker.
How to spot a fake website:
- Spelling and grammar errors
- Unusual personal questions (e.g requesting your account number)
- The email doesn’t correspond with the website name
- The website is ‘buggy’ and poorly designed
Bank Scam
Phone scams are so common these days that it’s not unusual to expect one. These scam companies obtain your contact details through third party sources who sell your information in exchange for money. However, although most are harmless and easily recognisable, some scammers are more sophisticated than others and can catch you off guard.
Some scammers may pose as a representative for your bank, prepared with enough details to make you believe that they are legitimate such as knowing your name, address, and bank information. They may request for you to click on a link that they have sent across to “authorise” your identity. In this case, there is a high chance that this link may contain malware that they will use to gain access to your actual bank account.
How to spot a bank scam:
- Overseas number
- The text doesn’t state that it has been sent from your bank
- The text asks to click on a link or to download an attachment
- Are requesting personal information
Fake Giveaways
Who doesn’t love a freebie right?
During the festive season, you need to be more careful than ever. You should also stay vigilant when entering legitimate giveaways. For example, a user may post a giveaway and if you interact with their post, some scammers will come across your profile and try to trick you into thinking that you have ‘won’ the giveaway.
How to spot a fake giveaway:
- The social handle is different from the giveaway owner
- Spelling and grammar errors
- Asking for financial details
Pop up adverts
During Christmas time it feels like you hit the jackpot when you see a ‘too good to be true’ deal online. That in itself should be a slight red flag and remind you to take precautions before providing any personal information to someone. Scam pop up ads are designed to lure unsuspecting users in order to get your money.
Before you take the plunge and take advantage of the amazing deal, do some research and see if any other websites are also offering the same discount and are more reputable.
How to spot a fraudulent pop up advert:
- Almost too good to be true offer
- No other websites are offering the same deal
- Your device warns you of a potential threat
- Advert appears on an unknown website
How to avoid Christmas online scams?
The last thing that you need during one of the most expensive times of the year is to fall victim to a fraudulent scam. We have listed a few best practices for you to adopt to stay cyber secure this Christmas:
Don’t click on suspicious links or attachments
If you come across a text or a website that doesn’t seem to look right or legitimate, don’t take the risk and don’t click on it. There is a good chance that it could be malware that is waiting to infect your device and steal your information. Stick to trusted and reputable websites that you have previously purchased from.
Be vigilant of fake websites
‘Tis the season for fake websites and fake businesses. These types of scammers are waiting for ‘too busy to notice’ users to unknowingly stumble across their websites and share their financial details with them. Be vigilant and look out for suspicious websites, particularly those that poorly impersonate popular and trusted businesses.
Don’t react straight away
Try to not panic buy or let anyone pressure you to make a purchase, take your time when shopping online. The last thing you want is to be caught off guard and have money taken out of your account.
The biggest tip to take away from this post is to think before you click. Be cautious when shopping online and take your time to avoid being caught out by one of the Christmas cyber scams you read about earlier.
If you want to learn more about staying cyber secure all year round, and improving your IT defenses against cyber attackers, speak to our IT experts today!
