Black Friday keeps many of us excited, especially when we find massive deals on several things which have been waiting in their shopping wishlist for long. However, the raging craze around black Friday sale also tempts the cybercriminals who too are waiting to make money. That said, you can keep the cybercriminals to the latter category.
Every year Black Friday sale starts last week of November. The sale continues for a week until the cyber Monday arrive. During the period, major online and brick-and-mortar offer exciting deals, quite naturally the sale index reaches its peak.
Shoppings activities in Singapore are pretty high during Black Friday sales
According to statistics, shopping activities on these days goes so high that in Singapore itself one person in the country purchases at least four things. According to Adobe Insights, people spent over $7.8 billion in 2018 Cyber Monday sale around the world.
The cybercriminals ramp up for duping the potential victims' a couple of months ago. Every year around they increase phishing attacks starting July. Cybersecurity solution provider Avira has recorded a 2.5 times increase in phishing attacks by September this year.
Many people fall prey to such authentic-looking phishing schemes and sacrifice their wallet balance. To be on the safer side, here go some safe practises you should embrace and have an exciting black Friday shopping experience.
Coupon and discount apps
You might come across numerous shopping coupon apps, offering massive Black Friday deals. But in reality, most of them are PUP (Potentially Unidentified Program), adware or malware with some malicious intent. Avoid any such apps you come across and rely only on the deals by visiting the official websites.
Double-check
Never google with queries like 'best Black Friday deals on the iPhone.' Cybercriminals design numerous websites showing exciting deals with links to get the sale. But once you click on any of those links, you are gone.
Being Authentic
During the Black Friday and Cyber Monday period, your mailbox would often get flooded with deal emails from authentic-looking websites. Before moving forward to grab the deal, check the original email ID by clicking the drop-down arrow appears beside the username or navigating to 'Show Original.' Checkpoint noticed a record 233% spike in the number of e-commerce phishing URLs last year.
Link problem
Cyber thugs often design authentic-looking lookalikes of popular eCommerce websites. They look so authentic that it becomes challenging to find out the authentic ones. But to find out its authenticity by reading the URL and re-check it from another device through an internet search. For instance, the URL 'amazon.com' reads pretty identically to 'amaz0n.com' with the difference of a zero. These small difference often get overlooked.
Rogue Images
After the WhatsApp GIF controversy, you must have been aware of the potential of an image file. Every image file comes with a metadata part which can be infected by directing you to a rogue website and take control of your device. Never click on any images that appear in emails or shared via any social platform.
The Network
Never connect through a public Wi-Fi network while buying things. Better depending on your cellphone network. If you in the case is compelled to use a public Wi-Fi for shopping, then use a VPN at least to stay safe.
