Online scams are an everyday thing to keep an eye out for if you spend any amount of time connected to the internet. However, you really need to be aware of online shopping scammers during the Black Friday period when great deals are everywhere, closely followed by cybercriminals. The same goes for Cyber Monday. Combined, the threat of financial fraud and identity theft is vast, which is why it’s essential to enlist the help of cybersecurity tools to stay safe and secure online.
There’s plenty of software help available for taking on the threat of online shopping scammers thanks to dedicated cybersecurity tools. A password manager (opens in new tab), for example, can help you keep all of your passwords in one encrypted location, with only on master log-in needed adding to the appeal. Similarly, enlisting the services of a well-respected virtual protected network, or VPN (opens in new tab) for short, allows you to stay safe by surfing the web through your own secure connection.
Why online scams?
The short answer to the growth of online scams during the Black Friday period is opportunity. With so many deals and offers available it gives cybercriminals all manner of options for conning people into giving away their financial information, or stealing their money. In some cases, it’s both.
Fraudsters are always on the lookout for new ways to procure credit card numbers and then piece together an individual’s profile picture by also securing their email addresses and…
