Holidays Susceptible To Fraud

Cyber criminals widely create fake sites that appear to be part of well-known online stores, supermarkets and delivery services. This is according to international research by Mimecast.

For example, the search term ‘Amazon’ yielded a total of more than 1 million results. Over 5000 new domains with Amazon in them were registered in one day. Some of these are legitimate, but there are many malicious websites among them. Cyber criminals use these types of fake sites to sell products they never deliver, or to extract personal information for follow-up attacks.

In addition to online stores such as Amazon, supermarkets are increasingly being imitated for criminal purposes. For example, Mimecast discovered hundreds of new domains with the name “Walmart” in them in August and October. Among other things, the researchers came across a counterfeit (‘spoofed’) website of the American supermarket chain. There was allegedly offered a Walmart voucher worth 1000 dollars.

According to the online security guard, another danger lies in parcel delivery. For example, consumers receive an e-mail or text message about an undelivered package, supposedly from a delivery company. The victim must then enter contact and credit card information or pay a small amount of money to have the package redelivered. Furthermore, many packages have recently been sent that have never been ordered.

The Dutch also run the risk of becoming a victim, according to research by Mimecast. One in five Dutch consumers received phishing emails in the past year that appeared to come from an online retailer or a delivery company. Half of the Dutch received a phishing email about a prize they had won. Over a quarter received a phishing email about a great offer and nearly one in five about a delayed order.

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