Security experts are warning consumers to be on the lookout for potential hacking attacks during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Rick Crouch, a cybercrime researcher, said in-store customers are at risk of credit card fraud while online shoppers could fall victim to data theft, scams and ransomware.
Cyber Monday, on December 2, will be one of the biggest e-commerce days of the year.
This is the time when many will be surfing the internet looking for discounts on products.
While consumers will make purchases through online stores, criminals are expected to do their own shopping, which includes your personal information and your money.
Criminals will resort to phishingattacksbecause users will be shopping online. So, there is a high chance that you will lose your computers and have your banking information stolen. Hackers will create fake websites where you think it is a website of a store you know, which is linked to the fake website, where once you enter and type in your details, it will steal your sensitive personal data (e.g. social media, credit and debit card passwords)
As consumers, you should take precautions before making online purchases during the Black Friday period - and beyond - including:
- checking the website URLs ,
- purchases from secure devices,
- search for offers on websites and not search engines
- and review of credit card purchase history during the specific period.
