Today may be the most fraudulent day of the year, according to cybersecurity startup SEON.
It comes after Black Friday, Cyber Monday – the day when retailers encourage consumers to shop online, rather than in-store. Since its inception, Cyber Monday has become just as important to the retail industry as its predecessors, and it’s something that cybercriminals seek to take advantage of – perhaps even more so.
Cyber Monday scam attempts far exceed “normal” Monday scam attempts, but this year we may be looking at a record. In its latest report, SEON predicted a 100% increase in fraud attempts on Cyber Monday, making it a much bigger threat than Black Friday, with the company projecting a 57% increase.
Bots and fake profiles
The company bases these claims on proprietary data. Apparently, it processed 26% more transactions on Black Friday, compared to “normal” Friday, and saw a 57% increase in declined transaction rates.
In contrast, it processed approximately 19.5% more transactions on “cyber Monday” than on “regular” Mondays, but did see a 100.3% increase in declined transaction rates. Bots and fake profiles are the most common weapons in every cybercriminal’s arsenal this holiday season, SEON says.
Besides proprietary data, SEON also bases these assumptions on “increasing economic pressures” that are forcing more people to resort to online fraud.
Cybercriminals always try to take advantage of important events and steal people identification (Opens in a new tab) Data, payment information and money at the end. The Olympic Games, the World Cup, and the Covid-19 pandemic are just some examples of global events scammers are taking advantage of.
Most of the time, they set up fake landing pages and send phishing emails associated with these events. They may provide their victims with fake login forms to extract sensitive data or trick them into downloading malware.
As always, people are advised to be extra careful when receiving emails, especially those containing hyperlinks or attachments.