Be alert of cyber criminals

A training company advised citizens to be alert of cybercriminals while enjoying the festive season.

“From Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the holiday season is a sea of shopping, laughter, gifts and entertainment and also, of security risks, hacks and fraudsters lurking on the edges of the festive fun,” said Anna Collard, managing director of Popcorn Training.

In a statement Collard said, “You want to give the best possible gifts or find the best possible deals, but you need to approach your shopping and gift-giving with a measure of common sense and security awareness.” Crime, she said, was both on the street and online, targeting citizens’ bank accounts, credit card details and personal information. Be aware of fake Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, charity tricksters, fake gift cards and vouchers, fake mobile apps and bogus shipping notices.

Collard advises as follows:

•  Black Friday and Cyber Monday are major shopping events and also breeding grounds for fake specials, malicious links and criminal activity. The fake special offers are designed to lure shoppers into clicking on malicious links or to open malicious attachments and end up handing out money for items that don’t exist.
•  Do not click on pop-up adverts and special offers to protect yourself. Rather, visit the site directly to search for the offer. The links will often, take you to fake but real looking sites designed to phish for your personal information and bank details. Always check the URL and remember, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
•  Charity tricksters prey on the end of the year spirit of giving back. They set up fake charities using existing events or appealing trends such as refugees to collect money. Only donate to reputable and accredited charities, and do not give out your personal information.
•  Complimentary vouchers and gift cards are also used by fraudsters on people without an idea of what to buy for others or last minute shoppers. They offer fake online vouchers and cards without monetary value when redeemed resulting in a loss.
•  Some are victims of phone calls from fake police or government officials asking them to buy gift cards for a certain amount and to read the numbers out over the phone. The scammer takes your money after terrifying you. Or, they take your money by replacing the bar codes on the gift card with ones that belong to the scammer. When you put money into the card, the funds go directly into their bank account.
•  Be alert for fake mobile apps and bogus shipping notices. Download only apps from the Google Play or Apple App store to avoid fake version ones which are controlled by cybercriminals who hack into victims’ bank details.

Collard urged citizens to invest in antivirus software, only open attachments they expect, not to click on pop-up ads and overly brilliant offers, check their URLs, and download only trusted apps.

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