How to prepare not to fall for “phishing” scams this holiday season
According to a survey by the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban), three out of ten Brazilians have already been the victims of a coup or attempted coup this year. As of September 2021, it was 21%. In June of this year, the percentage rose to 31%. Among these scams, the one that has increased the most is phishing.
The term phishing is similar to another word in the English vocabulary, fishing, which means to fish, i.e. “fish” user information through a link from a company that seems real and has an ad with a good offer, but in the reality the truth is a phishing site or a malware link.
Strokes increase at the end of the year
These types of scams happen year-round and gain momentum during the holiday season as many retailers face a slow sales period and will offer promotions as a way to increase customer acquisition during a time when more consumers will be online. . It is in this scenario that cyber criminals take advantage of the scam.
The scammer tries to get the victim to take action by posing as a legitimate business. Therefore, he often creates an ad to lure them to a web page similar to the one they want to be on, and tricks them into entering information or clicking a button that triggers a malware download.
These pages are built to look extremely authentic and are notorious enterprising scammers who buy Google ads to make fake websites appear at the top of the search page.
So, be careful while browsing, avoid clicking on promotional links in emails and social media sites, and when trying to make a purchase on a site you’ve never visited before, it’s important to ask yourself: “Does this organization have Do I really need to confirm my payment details?” or “Would this company send an email like this?”
The robots are ready to attack
Another very common way for scammers to attack is through the use of bots. They are often used by scammers to automatically open as many accounts as possible and profit from promotions. So, it is important to pay attention to the email to see if there is any confirmation that indicates the opening of a new account.
While you will not directly suffer financial loss as a result, we cannot allow scammers to open accounts in the name of a legitimate user to use them for malicious purposes, in addition to the problems this can cause.
Therefore, in light of the above, it follows that the best defense against most of these types of attacks is to be aware of your email accounts and the websites you access for the first time.
If you notice any suspicious activity, try to report it immediately, don’t be afraid to contact a company directly for a cursory message – it may take a few minutes, but it’s much better for a scammer to get personal information that can be used to harm people.
We all play a part in keeping the internet safe, and remember that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t.
Cassiano Cavalcanti is pre-sales director for BioCatch in Latin America.🇧🇷
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Source: Terra
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
