As Black Friday nears, Kaspersky, a cybersecurity solutions company, uncovers over 13 million e-shop phishing attacks in 2023, with scammers imitating popular marketplaces, luxury brands, and gadget stores.
According to Kaspersky, scams and phishing are preferred tactics for fraudsters seeking profit. In the first 10 months of 2023, Kaspersky found almost 31 million phishing attacks targeting online shopping, payment systems, and banking institutions. E-commerce platforms were used in 43.5% of these attacks (13,390,142 attacks).
Since October, there has been a notable threefold increase in domains using the words “Black Friday.” These websites vary from non-existent stores to convincing copies of real online outlets. Kaspersky consistently spots several fake stores offering clothing, appliances, and gadgets since the start of fall. The most common schemes involve creating fraudulent stores where buyers pay but never receive the products.
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Another scheme involves linking a card for alleged purchases, allowing scammers to gradually empty victims’ accounts. For example, a misleading website mimics a popular shopping platform, luring users with an offer of an €800 gift card for €1.95. As the promised gift card doesn’t exist, users lose money to the scammers.
Fake gift cards
Kaspersky also discovered scams targeting potential victims using big brand names like eBay, Walmart, Alibaba, and local platforms like Mercado Libre in 240,000 phishing attacks. The promise of bigger theft encourages scammers to pretend to be luxury brands.
Scammers also mimic Apple products and services around Black Friday. Kaspersky detected 2.8 million such phishing attacks from January to October 2023. Gamers fall for console scams, promising purchases but leading to financial losses.
Kaspersky advises caution during online shopping, especially during peak events like Black Friday. The company emphasized the need for secure practices to protect against potential threats while enjoying the benefits of the digital marketplace.