Black Friday & Cyber Monday: What to look out for

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are here! It’s a welcome reminder to stay vigilant while shopping online. Cybercriminals often take advantage of these high-traffic shopping days to exploit customers. This article explores ten essential cyber safety tips to protect your personal information and ensure a safe online shopping experience. 

Watch Out for Fake Websites 

This is one of the most popular ways some cyber criminals will try to trick people into falling for their Black Friday or Cyber Monday scams. Fraudsters will clone websites to dupe consumers into thinking they are shopping on legitimate sites, as they appear almost identical, however there will be subtle changes that can indicate not everything is as it seems. 

Web addresses could be changed from a “.co.uk” address to a “.org”, images may be more pixelated, and functionality on a fake site may be limited. The content may even be substandard. It is always worth double checking the address of a site to confirm if it’s legitimate! 

Only use secure sites 

Before entering any information into a website, you should always check that the site is safe and secure. The first step is to hover your mouse over the URL and check the validity of the web address. You should look for a padlock symbol in the address bar and check that the URL begins with a ‘https://’ or ‘shttp://’. The ‘S’ indicates the web address has been encrypted and secured with an SSL certificate. Without HTTPS, any data passed on the site is insecure and could be intercepted by criminal third parties. 

However, this system is not totally foolproof. Within the last year, there has been a significant increase in the number of malicious sites using SSL certificates. Users are advised to be extra cautious and look for further evidence that the site is secure. You should check for a website privacy policy, use a website safety check tool such as Google Safe Browsing, or do a WHOIS lookup to see who owns the website. 

Beware of suspicious emails 

Phishing is one of the most popular ways for criminals to steal your personal information and there is always a massive increase in these types of attacks on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The speed, convenience and high return on investment makes phishing one of the easiest ways for cybercriminals to steal your personal data without you even knowing. 

As Cyber Monday approaches, be wary of any emails offering cash prizes or last-minute deals. These emails are designed to trick recipients into clicking on a link which may appear to come from a well-known retailer. Trust your gut if you think there’s something not right about the email and delete it immediately. 

Avoid deals that seem too good to be true 

Black Friday and Cyber Monday feature lots of legitimate deals offered by trusted and reputable retailers. However, cybercriminals know we’ll be scouring the web for the cheapest deals, and they take advantage of this by slipping in lots of fake offers. 

Be wary of any emails, pop-ups, or posts on social media promising rock-bottom prices. Clicking on the link could bring you straight to a phishing site or you may end up downloading malware onto your device. It can be hard to distinguish between a real bargain and a fake so it’s best to do your research to find out if the site is credible or go directly to a brand’s website to determine if the deal is real. It’s always worth remembering that if an offer seems too good to be true, it usually is! 

Use strong passwords 

You’ll have heard it a million times, but creating a strong password really is one of the easiest ways you can protect yourself from being hacked online. With so many passwords to remember, it can be tempting to use the same one for multiple accounts, however, this puts you at great risk of having your data stolen. It’s also important to regularly update your credentials to ensure that your accounts remain secure and to minimise the risk of unauthorized access. If hackers can work out just one of your passwords, whether it’s a Facebook account or online banking details, they can potentially access every single account you have. 

It’s always best to use a unique username and password for separate online accounts so that in the unfortunate event of being phished, the attackers won’t have access to your other online accounts. A great way to create a longer and more complex password is to use a passphrase. A passphrase is a sentence like string of words that is memorable to you but difficult for anyone else to crack. The first letter of each word will form the basis of your password and letters can be substituted with numbers and symbols to make it even more secure. 

Watch out for social media scams 

Social media scams are rife on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The crooks know that people are going online to specifically look for deals, so they make it as easy as they can for shoppers to fall for their online scams. Facebook and Twitter tend to be the favoured choice for these malicious posts and criminals will ask shoppers to like and share their posts, so they’re boosted to the top of news feeds and reach a wider audience. 

Users tend to be more trusting on social media and it’s often more difficult to determine if a link is malicious than it would be on a more traditional platform. 

Avoid Public Wi-Fi when shopping 

Using public Wi-Fi to search for the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals could open you up to a range of security risks. 

Public Wi-Fi requires no authentication to establish a network connection, allowing fraudsters direct access to any unsecured devices on the same open network. This enables hackers to steal valuable information such as login passwords, credit card info and other personal and financial details. 

Unsecured Wi-Fi networks can also be used to spread malware allowing cybercriminals unrestricted access to everything on your device. This information can in turn be used to commit identity fraud, or the information can be sold to criminal third parties. For more information about connecting to public Wi-Fi, see this article: https://www.lifewire.com/is-it-safe-to-use-an-open-wireless-network-2378210   

Ensure all your software is up to date 

Before going online to shop for the hottest deals, you should make sure that all your security software is up to date. This will prevent scammers from gaining access to your computer through vulnerabilities in older and outdated systems. The installation of anti-virus software will also help detect threats on your computer and block unauthorised users from gaining access. 

Monitor bank statements for fraudulent activity 

It’s always worth keeping a close eye on bank statements to make sure there are no unusual transactions on your account. Criminals know that during Black Friday and Cyber Monday there will be lots of online activity, so they hope that any unusual debits from your account will go undetected. Typically, the crooks will make a few initial debits for smaller amounts then go in for a larger amount which could clean out your bank account. 

Be aware of what permissions your apps have 

Retailer’s apps are crucial to shopping routines, with approximately 75% of consumers worldwide using them while browsing products. The market size of it is already approaching $4 trillion, with over half of adults worldwide having made purchases through a mobile app. 

Despite this, the convenience of getting the best deals with one click might come at the cost of your privacy. Once you install shopping apps, you should be prompted to grant it various permissions to access your device. Some of these may be essential for the app to work… Some may pose a risk to your private data. See this article: https://cybernews.com/privacy/black-friday-shopping-apps-permissions/ for more information around this. 

 

To edit/disable permissions, see below:  

Android:  

1. On your device, open the Settings app. 

1. Tap Apps. 

1. Tap the app that you want to change. If you can’t find it, tap See all apps. Then, choose your app. 

1. Tap Permissions. 

• If you allowed or denied any permissions for the app, you’ll find them here. 

1. To change a permission setting, tap it, then choose Allow or Don’t allow. 

For location, camera and microphone permissions, you may be able to choose: 

• All the time: For location only. The app can use the permission at any time, even when you’re not using the app. 

• Allow only while using the app: The app can use the permission only when you’re using that app. 

• Ask every time: Every time you open the app, it’ll ask to use the permission. It can use the permission until you’ve finished with the app. 

• Don’t allow: The app cannot use the permission, even when you’re using the app. 

Apple: 

1. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking.
   The list shows the apps that requested permission to track you. You can turn permission on or off for any app on the list. 

1. To stop all apps from asking permission to track you, turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track (at the top of the screen).