Be Safe on Black Friday

Black Friday is the name bequeathed to the Friday after American Thanksgiving. It has traditionally kicked off the the end of year shopping period in north America, the famed day of shopping extravaganza has now spread globally. Major players in the online retail arena have been advertising their Black Friday sales for weeks. The likes of Jumia, HouseholdMax, Konga and Amazon are promising consumers major discounts on popular items come Friday 27th November.

With an expected increase in retail activity vendors and consumers alike need to be aware of the many online predators looking to cash in on the increased internet traffic and online transactions. Hackers will be looking to take advantage of the confusion that arises with a sudden rush of activity to operate undetected. Consumers are warned to be alert to a number of fraudulent practices, especially:

Phishing websites

Copycat website creators will be looking to cash in as consumers rush to find bargains and conclude purchase. Some deals will look too good to be true. Consumers are most vulnerable online when they act in haste. Verify via Secure Sockets Layer and WOT authentication to ensure that the website (and offer) in question is genuine and reputable.

Secure Sockets Layer encryption protects the confidentiality of personal and credit card information during transmission over the Internet. SSL websites start with https:// instead of http://. Browsers show a padlock icon to denote that it has been verified as genuine. A locked padlock icon will appear, typically, in the status bar but the position is browser specific.

Emails offering unexpected gifts

Phishing campaigns by scammers are traditionally on the increase at this time of year. Be warned, cybercriminals have their eyes on your end of year bonus and will send emails offering outlandish deals designed to deprive of your hard earned cash.

Malvertising campaigns

Hackers will put extra effort (and funds) into fresh advertising campaigns designed to fool consumers into installing malware. Malvertising is already on the rise, users should anticipate that the expected increased retail flow to be matched by an increased investment in malicious advertising campaigns.

Readers should remember the infamous Target breach of 2013 and follow basic online safety guidelines – keep antivirus software and operating systems up-to-date. Those shopping via their smartphones should also take precautions. Readers need also be alert to any unauthorized purchases by those who may have cloned their bank cards.