Scammers turn Black Friday bleak for shoppers

Cyber-security-2023.jpg

Cyber security

by SAVIOUS KWINIKA 
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – CYBER fraudsters are on the prowl ahead of Black Friday.

Kaspersky researchers report that the number of attacks via Banking Trojans stealing payment data doubled in 2022 when compared with 2021, reaching almost 20 million attacks.

This year, in addition to this active campaign of banking credentials theft, cyber criminals developed new scam schemes.

Ahead of Black Friday in particular, fraudsters used a new type of phishing scheme for the first time exploiting Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services.

After a rapid drop in the number of attacks with banking Trojans in 2021, cyber-criminals have returned to this type of threat with renewed strength. In 2022, the number of attacks doubled compared to the same period in 2021.

From January to October, Kaspersky products detected and prevented almost 20 million attacks, meaning that the overall growth in the number of detections is 92 percent.

“The shopping event of the year – Black Friday – is a hot time not only for sellers and their buyers, but also for scammers who want to steal as much money as possible from hurried customer,” said Olga Svistunova, security expert at Kaspersky.

“The new scheme exploiting BNPL services only proves that cybercriminals do not stop in their desire to attack victims and come up with new methods to do so,” Svistunova said.

The expert said during Black Friday, shoppers become less vigilant and are therefore an easy target for cybercriminals.

“That’s why it’s so important to pay attention to which site you buy from, be careful with unfamiliar companies and use a reliable security solution,” Svistunova advised.

Black Friday traditionally marks the start of the Christmas shopping season in the United States.

It has started picking up globally, starting in 2014 in South Africa.

– CAJ News

 

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