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Planning an online shopping trip? This is how you will avoid cyber attacks during the shopping month - voila! Marketing and digital

2022-11-14T07:28:20.700Z


November sales are a great opportunity to renew, but if you don't take precautions, they can end up in online scams and identity theft. Get the guide that will help you take care of yourself


Do not fall into the hands of online fraudsters. (Photo: Unsplash)

The issue of online fraud or in other words "phishing" is not new, but nevertheless continues to make headlines and especially at times like the month of November which brings with it a host of sales dates starting with Shopping IL, Black Friday, Chinese Singles Day and Cyber ​​Monday.



The significant increase in the amount of purchases every year at these times directly affects the amount of fraud, which is increasing and even becoming more sophisticated over the years.

It can start from fairly innocent SMS messages with the name of the original company and a minor change in the attached link, to a landing page that looks almost identical to the original, but contains an entire network scam that may bring down quite a few users, who in the best case will lose some money and in the worst case their personal information can also be taken.



The Israeli consumer is known to be spendthrift, and as evidence, on the last election day the Israeli public spent more than NIS 1.3 billion on credit cards alone.

And now, at the height of the shopping month in question, even though there is global inflation and price increases in the market, we are expected to see a peak in spending again.



The Corona period completely changed people's consumption habits and moved them online.

Although we have already returned to a full routine, it seems that from then until today consumers preferred to stay in the comfortable place of the online because it does not require them to make a special effort.

Therefore, the phenomenon of online fraud has grown and flourished in a variety of areas, whether it is impersonation, "phishing" messages of all kinds, or the theft of photographs, which sometimes also involved extortion through threats.


A famous example of this is the story of sports reporter Sharon Perry, who an anonymous hacker broke into her smartphone a few years ago and stole her personal information, including nude photos and videos she took for her partner, and distributed them online, which drew many reactions among the public.



So a second before you pull out your credit card for the long-awaited virtual shopping trip, it's important to remember that the cybercriminals are also warming up their engines and preparing a creative variety of scams, which are constantly being updated and perfected.

So how can we purchase with peace of mind and avoid fraud attempts?

Here are some important tips that will help us all make it through the shopping trip safely:

Caution!

Landmines: Avoid clicking on links

As we get closer to shopping days, the flow of messages we will receive via SMS, email, WhatsApp and social networks will also increase.

The messages can include positive messages such as coupons and unique discounts or negative messages such as "Your Amazon account is about to be suspended."

Surely you have also come across impersonating messages, supposedly from Israel Post or other delivery services, regarding the package you ordered and a payment of several shekels is required in order to release it from customs.



How can you identify which messages are real and which are fake?

The truth is, very difficult.

Therefore, the recommendation is to avoid clicking on links in the messages sent to you.



Instead of clicking on a link in a message and reaching a website that may be an impostor, take the safe route and reach the desired website on your own initiative by typing the website address in the browser or searching for the website on Google.

After typing your identification information on the website you will be met with your unique benefits or problems with your account, if any.



When it comes to a shipment inquiry, look for the "shipment tracking" area on the website and enter the package number you received in the message in the search bar.

If the message is true, the search result will show the delivery status and if not, you will probably get a result such as "no data".

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Protect your personally identifiable information

Make sure that the site you are purchasing from is a well-known, long-standing site where you can find recommendations and reviews, preferably positive reviews.

Be sure to save the identification information used to log into your digital accounts.

Do not pass on the user code, password and verification codes sent to you to anyone.



Saving passwords in Google's Chrome browser is a very convenient option, but it involves several risks.

Be sure to save passwords only on your personal device and personal account.

People who access their e-mail box from foreign computers when necessary sometimes activate the password synchronization option.

This action transfers all the user's information, including passwords, to the foreign host browser.

Therefore, it is recommended to use an external service.

In addition, if you saved your passwords in the browser, an attack on sites you are registered to such as LinkedIn or Facebook could lead to the exposure of all other passwords.



As mentioned, stealing personal details is one of the main dangers on the Internet.

When a malicious party steals our personal information and does as he pleases with it, he can put us at risk from a security point of view by exposing personal information to questionable places or to parties that may endanger us.

Theft of credit information can be used by the burglar to steal money even without the victim knowing about it, and even be a ground for identity theft and exploitation of the victim's image for the malicious party's personal goals.



One of the recommended ways to protect your various accounts is to activate the "two-factor authentication" mechanism.

This is a free service that exists on almost every website and allows you to set a mobile phone number to which a unique verification code will be sent for you.

The verification code will be sent to you when they try to log into your account from a previously unapproved device and will protect your account even if your identification information has fallen into malicious hands.

More in Walla!

Do you have an online store?

This is how you will prepare for Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday 2022

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Use secure payment or a loaded card

Many websites allow purchases by credit card only.

But is it safe?

Although in the worst case where our credit information is stolen and used to purchase products, it is likely that the credit company or bank will detect the theft and we will receive a refund, but the process involves the hassle of replacing the card and updating the current charges.


When you type in your credit card information on an impersonating site, the credit information is visible and can be used for online purchases or sold on the DarkNet.

Using disguised means, such as a loaded card, makes it possible to limit the amount for purchases so that even in the case of an impersonating website, the maximum amount of money that may be stolen is limited.

Also, the real credit card details are not revealed.



Various services offer an international prepaid card, such as the Up-Card service of Bank Hapoalim or the Postal Bank, which allow online purchases for the maximum amount you allocate in advance.

This avoids the need to type in the real card details on websites and be exposed to fraud.


Another solution is to use PayPal, Google Pay and Apple Pay as an intermediary payment method that prevents the disclosure of your credit information.




Sharon Kasper is the director of cyber ads at Bank Hapoalim.

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  • Marketing and digital

  • in the headlines

Tags

  • Cyber ​​attacks

  • Online shopping

  • Online shopping

  • Black Friday

  • Cyber ​​Monday

  • Chinese Singles Day

  • Credit Card

  • Online scams

  • identity theft

  • November

Source: walla

All news articles on 2022-11-14

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