Online shopping is a little more dangerous this year with multiple fake shopping apps in both Apple App Store and Google Play.
It is not Apple or Google’s fault – overall these legitimate looking apps are knockoffs of established stores with the sole aim of fooling you to buy from them – usually at prices that are too good to be true. As they mostly don’t contain malware or install backdoors, the app stores don’t block them. (iTWire article here).
Nick Fitzgerald, Senior Research Fellow at ESET Security, has issued a warning to all potential online shoppers – make sure the app or website is legitimate and don’t necessarily trust search SEO ratings.
Fitzgerald says it is not just Christmas gift shopping but so called last minute accommodation and travel sites that are breeding like rabbits. These copy legitimate sites, but payment ends up in the cyber criminals account. For the most part, banks cannot do anything to recover costs as you have willingly provided your credit card number, expiry date, and CVV code.
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ESET have some tips to stay safer on-line.
Fitzgerald says, “We’ve seen travel scams and hacking attacks on travel booking websites increase around holiday times in the last few years. Hackers are aware people are looking for the best deals for their trips, so some may take advantage of this. There are a few things to watch to avoid being scammed while booking holidays.”
- Check confirmations carefully. Sometimes emails will look official but are phishing scams. Always check that the details perfectly match your trip without errors. If an email asks you for payment when the booking has already been made, it might be a scam.
- As always, if an offer seems too good to be true then it probably is. If you see a five-star hotel at a very low price, call the hotel directly to verify the accuracy of the price. Even if in a hurry to find a cheap Christmas break, don’t forget to check for secure payment pages and double-check the offer is genuine.
- Once away for the Christmas holidays, make sure to securely use public Wi-Fi hotspots if you want to book more trips. Always check the official Wi-Fi when arriving at a hotel, and take all the usual precautions if you must use an unsecured hotspot.”
On online shopping for the Christmas period:
He adds, “The pre-Christmas online shopping period is getting longer and longer with many appealing offers. This has caught the attention of cybercriminals who now target holiday shoppers looking for affordable deals in a short amount of time. However, with a bit of common-sense and knowledge of what is safe to do online, shoppers shouldn’t fall for such scams. It is best to follow these four rules for safe Christmas shopping.”
- Stick with official brands. There has been a surge in fake and professional-looking apps and websites luring victims into official brands at good prices. However, these are perfect examples of phishing sites looking at extracting personal data and sometimes credit card details. Well-established brands with official websites and apps should employ reliable security measures.
- Always check the security of a website. An HTTPS connection and the padlock icon will indicate you are on a website that encrypts data between your browser and the web server.
- Extremely good deals are usually too good to be true. Many scams put tempting offers online to lure victims into payment or infecting their devices.
- Shopping via mobile is now very common and very convenient when on the go and in a rush to buy something for Christmas. If you are doing so, avoid connecting to a public Wi-Fi hotspot while at a café or in a public place. Although you may be in a rush to get a nice gift for your loved ones, there are many risks associated with using a public hotspot, including stolen banking details. Especially when doing online banking or making purchases, it is best to stick to mobile data provided by your network provider.
