DURING this World Cup season, there has been a rise in scams globally as every few minutes someone across the globe is being scammed.
According to Check Point Software Technologies, many of the scams reported are centred around sports betting, luring victims into handing over their banking details.
It is therefore important to remain vigilant against the increased cybersecurity risk as the scammers take advantage by launching numerous phishing campaigns.
Phishing is a type of cyber attack, where malicious actors send messages pretending to be from a trusted person or company.
Check Point said phishing messages are designed to manipulate a user into performing an action such as downloading a malicious file, clicking a suspicious link or divulging sensitive information.
The basic delivery of a phishing attack is through SMS, email, social media or other electronic communication means.
That may be during the World Cup fever but in reality, every day scammers are using new techniques to scam people.
A recent one is that they will call you to inform that your electricity connection will be disconnected in two hours. Surely this creates panic and some would want to find out, why? That is exactly what they want you to do.
If you listen to the message, they will ask you to press a digit and once you do that, they will find a way to con you.
If you are unsure when you receive such calls, just call the right agency and find out if there is really going to be a cut.
Do not follow what the scam calls tell you.
With the festive seasons approaching, there will also be no short of scams and fraud. Be extra vigilant and stay safe. Guard your money because that is your hard earned money.
Always ask yourself, when an offer is too good, could it be really true?
Hackers and scammers will use big store names to send emails and messages to you. This is a way to convince you into believing that these big companies are giving you gift vouchers and discounts.
Scammers use holiday seasons to scam people because they are increasingly involved in online shopping, travelling, giving donations or buying gift cards, a report said.
According to Check Point, festive seasons are also a special season for cyber criminals. They take advantage of these shopping days to intensify their phishing attacks, ransomware and even dropping malware into emails.
In the first half of this year, tracks increased 44% over the same period a year earlier.
It said such peak online shopping seasons are a favourite for cyber criminals to get consumers’ data as well.
In the first half of 2022, attacks increased 44% over the same period in 2021.
Another report said one in four people fell victim to fraud during last year’s holiday season globally.
Check Point reminds people to always buy from authentic and reasonable sources.
Always look for the link in the search engine you use and never click on links sent to you by email or text messages.
Be aware of similar domains as cyber criminals will try to create domains and pages that are as similar as possible to the originals.
However, there will always be some spelling mistakes or the domain names will be misspelled. Pay close attention to such spellings to avoid future problems, it said.
When the offer is too good to be true, then it is probably a scam, as often during festive seasons there are no big discounts, Check Point said. “Don’t get carried away by surprisingly low prices,’’ it added.
Always look for the lock, as secure Internet sites will have the letters “HTTPS” at the beginning of the domains.
It is best to have endpoint security solutions in place. This is necessary as it can prevent the spread of malware to the rest of the equipment or computers.
The other factor to be aware of is password reset emails. Check Point said companies will never ask you to reset your password unless you have requested it yourself.
If so, you will receive an email asking you to change your password. It is best to go to the company’s website and change the password from there.
Therefore, be always suspicious and do your research. Be mindful of the payment methods you chose to avoid being scammed.
