tips
In the run-up to any holiday season, scammers get busy. A lot of the time, their actions are rather primitive. Getting ready for Christmas? Expect to be bombarded with fake discounts. Valentine’s Day round the corner? Watch out for fake gifts. Big soccer tournament coming up? There’ll be no shortage of fake tickets.
But the greatest amount of fake stuff appears the week before Black Friday, the day after US Thanksgiving that marks the start of the Christmas period, which is a global sales bonanza for retailers peddling anything from soap to smart TVs — and for scammers too. Today, in the countdown to Black Friday, we look at the latest cybercriminal tricks and ways to counter them.
Discounts! Discounts? Discounts…
Every year in late November, this word experiences a popularity spike. And the craze for low prices plays right into the hands of scammers, whose emails, coupons and phishing links merge with the mass of genuine offers.
Let’s look at an example: Walmart — the world’s largest wholesale and retail chain — appears to be offering customers a $750 gift card:
Follow just four simple steps to (not) get a gift card
It’s pretty easy to spot the scam here:
- For a start, $750 is a tidy sum. Ever seen a store offering that much before?
- To claim your card, you first have to enter your email address and “Basic Info”. It’s effectively the legal purchase of personal data — but at an astronomical price. Would Walmart really be doing that? Hardly.
- And what’s this third point about completing the recommended deal? To get a gift card, you also have to pay? That’s an obvious red flag. You’re definitely dealing with scammers.
At the very least, the cybercriminals will get the victim’s name and postal address (the goods need to be delivered somewhere, right?), bank card details, plus the money forked out to complete the recommended deal. It’s doubly distressing for said victim: they leak their own data, and are lamenting the $750 that never was; they may even blame Walmart itself.
Scammers are human too and understand how much we all love a freebie. And that makes Black Friday the perfect time for another popular scam: fake giveaways. The prizes are goods that everyone wants. For example, a snazzy iPhone 14. Seems like the scammers here aren’t aware that iPhones 15 and 16 are already with us, as is reliable protection for their owners.
A telltale sign of fraud is a countdown clock next to a pressing call to action
Let’s take a closer look at the screenshot. The cybercriminals, lurking behind a big brand — Amazon — tempt the victim with a whiff of exclusivity (“We are offering great prizes to 10 users”), prompting them to answer four simple questions before the clock ticks down. It might look plausible at first glance, but the catch is always the same: the recipient of the “exclusive” offer must act quickly or risk missing out.
As you’ve already guessed, there’s no iPhone 14 to speak of: the scammers simply scrape what personal data they can and may even ask for some kind of payment via a phishing link. As a result, the victim hands over their personal data and bank details, putting their finances at great risk. Read more about Black Friday scams in our Securelist blogpost.
Black Friday for scammers
If you think that no one needs your data or it’s been leaked before (and not just once), this story is for you. Our experts have found lots of ads selling personal data at a discount on the dark web. It’s an effective scheme (for the scammers): they email out bulk phishing in advance, harvest victims’ data, then sell it at a discount to other scammers at the end of November. Black Friday for everyone!
Scammers are happy to give other scammers a 10% discount
All the data is sorted by country and product type: above we see a set of Canadians’ stored-value cards and Italians’ debit cards up for grabs. Admit it, you don’t really want your bank details to be part of a special offer for carders on the dark web.
How to save your finances on Black Friday
First of all, we advise taking extra special care during the sales season: carefully read giveaway terms and conditions, check the details with the organizers (not by using the link or phone number in the email, but by visiting the official website) and stay informed of all the latest scams and tricks by following our Kaspersky Daily blog.
We understand that navigating the saturated information-flow is tough when you’re being assailed on all sides by promotions, “exclusive” offers and discounts. That’s why we offer a straightforward solution: put your trust in automation.
The Kaspersky app has a Safe Money feature that shows the current level of protection of your finances — now for Android users, too.
Safe Money in Kaspersky for Android
For unbeatable security, we recommend enabling all protection components on the app’s home screen:
- Safe Browsing. Blocks dangerous websites and checks all links before opening them for you, giving scammers no opportunity to lure you to a phishing site. Remember that Safe Browsing only works in three supported browsers: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Yandex Browser.
- Safe Messaging. Checks for phishing links in all texts and instant messages you receive.
- Weak Settings Scan. Detects vulnerabilities in your phone settings and tells you how to improve your smartphone security.
- VPN. Protects online payments and prevents your data from being intercepted when using public Wi-Fi.
- Wi-Fi Security Check. Checks every Wi-Fi network you connect to and notifies you of any potential danger.
This combination of security features protects you and your finances from the vast majority of scams on Black Friday and beyond. For example, Safe Browsing will stop you from following a phishing link to a scam site to “claim your $750 gift card”; while Safe Messaging will keep cybercriminals at bay in Telegram and other messengers.
