Experts are warning that online scams could be at an all-time high this holiday season.
After online scams hit record highs in 2023, experts are warning holiday shoppers of fraudulent Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. Scammers are targeting U.S. shoppers with fake websites and ads for big brands like IKEA, Wayfair and The North Face.
CBS News reports that threat intelligence company EclecticIQ identified a campaign that operates a sprawling network of fabricated websites using “Trusted Source” badges to trick shoppers into believing their fake products are legitimate.
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When consumers attempt to make a purchase, scammers steal their personal and payment information, something consumers are often unaware of until they fail to receive the product.
Last year, reports of online fraud exceeded $12.5 billion in potential losses, which is 22% higher than 2022 reports, according to FBI data. Scammers are getting increasingly sophisticated with tools like artificial intelligence.
EclecticIQ CEO Cody Barrow told CBS News that with widespread online shopping, “reliance on digital platforms has handed these groups a wider attack surface than ever.” His company says it identified at least 8,000 fake sites that offer “deals” on popular brands. The sites are not legitimate but are designed to look like official sites and even use URLs that appear authentic at first glance. For example, a site posing as Wayfair used the URL wayfairtoday.com. A different site used wayfairblackfriday.com and offered fake “deals” including an $800 mattress reduced to $39.
Analysts discovered Mandarin coding and Chinese IP addresses on the sites, indicating that the phishing campaign was operated by a China-based group. CBS News reports that IKEA said it was investigating a scam website using its name.
Separately, an ad on Facebook and Instagram using The North Face logo routed users to a fake site. The ad was removed from the social media platform for policy violations, CBS News reports, with The North Face saying it was working with Meta and “other partners” to combat scams.
To protect yourself from online scams, you should stay alert while shopping and act quickly if you believe you’ve been scammed. Set up multi-factor authentication for your accounts, and use strong and unique passwords. Avoid unfamiliar links and unsolicited emails and text messages. Instead, use a search engine to navigate to the retailer’s website. Be wary of deals that appear too good to be true as well as sites that use excessive pop-ups and urgent language.
If you think you’ve been scammed, immediately notify your bank to reverse the charges and change your passwords to online accounts. File a police report if you experience harassment or repeated attempts to steal more of your information. You can also freeze your credit on the three major credit reporting bureaus if your personal information has been compromised via a data breach’s which will make sure your identity can’t be stolen in the event that scammers obtain your social security number.