The january sales It is another moment highly anticipated by consumers after Christmas and there are many people in Spain who browse all the online shopping platforms for hours to purchase products.
These days are also awaited by cybercriminals, as they take advantage of the discount ‘fever’ to launch different attacks with the aim of steal users’ personal and banking details.
Therefore it is very important know all types of threats and how to protect yourself to avoid falling into any of them.
What are the most dangerous techniques when buying online?
From the cybersecurity company ESET, four techniques stand out that not only compromise individuals, but also e-commerce companies:
- Phishing and fraudulent emails– Messages impersonating big brands and leading to unsafe and fake websites. They may collect personal data by offering fraudulent promotions to steal personal and banking details.
- Counterfeit web pages: online stores that imitate official stores and deceive consumers with ridiculous prices. It is advisable to be wary of spelling errors or pages that use a different top-level domain.
- Risks in public Wi-Fi networks: insecure connections that can be used by cybercriminals to access your device and collect banking and personal data.
- Malicious applications: tools that promise exclusive discounts, but install ‘malware’ on users’ devices. Some criminals manage to insert spyware into them to access all the data, so it is best to only buy from verified apps and official websites.
How to protect ourselves when buying online?
Here we leave you a series of key tips explained by ESET so that you can protect your data when purchasing on online platforms.
- Check the authenticity of the website– Look for the official URL and avoid suspicious links in emails or social networks. It is necessary to check the links for spelling errors or repeated characters.
- Use unique and strong passwords– Tools like password managers will help you keep your accounts secure.
- Use secure payment methods– Always use a payment card or secure online payment services such as PayPal, as they provide more protection for personal and banking details.
- Avoid public Wi-Fi networks– Make your purchases on private networks or, if unavoidable, connect using a VPN.
- Update your devices– Keep your operating system, browser and applications up to date to reduce the risk of vulnerabilities.
- Be wary of offers that are too good to be true: If the price of a product is extremely low, take it as a red flag. Be wary of lower than normal prices and compare with several websites before purchasing.
- Activate banking security alerts: After making a purchase, it’s essential to monitor your bank accounts to make sure charges are correct. Setting up notifications for transactions will allow you to quickly detect suspicious movements.
The most common cyber attacks
In study reveals that almost half of the respondents (45%) have suffered a cyber attack or scamwhile 44% have experienced fraud attempts. In total, this implies that the 89% of respondents have been the target of some type of deception at some point.
He phishing by email leads reported threatsaffecting 33% of those surveyed. They are followed by telephone scams (32%) and fraud by WhatsApp (28%), evidencing the variety of methods used by cybercriminals to violate users.
This reality has led 88% of respondents to avoid sharing their data online for security reasons. The survey also reflects that the biggest concerns of users are the unauthorized access to personal data (55.4%), the identity theft (50.2%) yel online banking fraud (49.3%).
These fears reflect a concern about loss of privacy and the risk of financial harm from fraud. Furthermore, 47.6% of those surveyed express a significant fear of being victim of online shopping scams.
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