As usual, it is natural to expect that cybercriminals will take advantage of the commemorative date to trick unsuspecting Internet users with phishing campaigns and other malicious maneuvers.
Black Friday: beware of the season of scams and fraud!
Let’s face it — Black Friday, in itself, doesn’t have a good reputation here in Brazil. Unfortunately, the date of American origin became famous here, a priori, because of online stores that practice the classic “everything for half the double” — that is, they inflate the prices of products days before the big day to simulate unmissable promotions. This, however, became the least of the problems after cybercrime realiz that it could also profit from this time of year.
According to a survey conduct by PSafe in 2019, 1,600 fake
profiles and scams were identifi in Brazil, reaching a total of 45,000 internet users. Furthermore, it was also found that one in six Brazilians had maternity retouching their crit card clon during Black Friday. Many experts have already point to the date as the “Christmas of cybercrime”, due to the ease with which criminals can commit fraud, whether to steal other people’s data or receive payments directly.
After all, cyber scams often rely on social engineering — and on Black Friday, it becomes even easier than ever to manipulate a victim’s feelings. People are naturally desperate to not miss out on deals, and are more likely to trust anything they find on the web. This includes fake and/or unreliable online stores, as well as phishing campaigns that abuse the visual identity of major retailers to steal financial and personal information.
Protection tip Just like any other soci
al engineering-bas cyber threat, you can protect yourself from Black Friday scams by simply taking a deep breath and thinking twice before taking any action. The rush to “buy before it’s gone” and the desire to “pay the lowest price” can be all a scammer nes to successfully trick you and cause you a lot of headaches later on. Here are some basic tips you can follow:
Plan in advance: We know that the Разходи за унищожаване на дървеници: пълното описание temptation to buy everything that is cheap is great. However, planning in advance and making a list of what you are really interest in buying can make your life easier when it comes to finding reliable stores;
Be careful with emails: it is natural for online stores to send out marketing emails with their promotions. However, never click on a link directly from alb directory the message you receive — instead, visit the website in question manually and find the product advertis there, avoiding possible phishing;