Americans are expected to spend a total of $929 billion on this year’s deals related to Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. (This prediction was provided by eMarketer- a New York-based market research company that provides insights and trends related to digital marketing, media, and commerce.)
So, it’s obvious that all the millions of employees who shop online from their workplace for Thanksgiving deals, Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday deals will put their company’s computer networks at risk of malicious malware and hacking cyber attacks.
Infosecurity Magazine has reported that this holiday season will turn into a merry time for hackers to pull off an estimated 50 million global fraud attempts. Whether it is credit card fraud, bank account infiltration, or simple identity theft, online shoppers are at high risk.
Check out these tips to help shoppers protect themselves from being victims of cyberattacks.
Spam folders. Most of the cyber frauds happen through phishing emails and over 50% of them are caused by emails which land in our spam folders. People are often tempted to click on these emails aimed to impersonate major retailers such as Best Buy, and CVS who offer robust deals via email offerings. These actually are honey traps to fool people. So, beware not to get hooked on them.
Hackers grammar check. As most cyber thieves are located in developing countries they often fall under the language barrier. So, they often take the help of translation software which is often found to misinterpret words. Therefore, for those who want to protect themselves from fraud, you better stay away from discount-driven emails filled with spelling errors as they are sure signs of fraud.
Check for the customer service contact number. As soon as you read an email filled with discounts and coupon codes, it is better you take the help of google to cross-check the contact number & details mentioned in the email. Often it is found that the telephone numbers available in the email are connected to a scam line. And once the bad guys get hold of these details, they will somehow trick you into providing credit card details or permission to remotely control your PC and do the damage which you can’t even imagine.
Genuine reviews do count. It is better to hunt for reviews against a product displayed on a retailer’s website. This not only gives you a clear picture of the product’s function but also provides you with a gist of the sales report. Thus, it is better you buy the product after reading customer reviews or their ratings.
Keep a tab of your bank accounts. It’s better if you keep a track of your bank account on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. And ensure that all your digital or M-wallet transactions are approved by a 2-way authentication. Furthermore, Text alerts or email alerts can provide peace of mind or potentially stop a cybercriminal before more damage is done.