Cyber Monday Scams To Watch Out!

Cyber Monday- probably the only Monday we would love to look forward to!

Do you know? The term “Cyber Monday” was first coined in 2005 to encourage shoppers to shop online after Thanksgiving Day and it has now become one of the biggest online shopping days of the year.

Along with Black Friday, Cyber Monday draws millions of shoppers worldwide seeking to secure amazing deals, products and cross Christmas items off their seasonal shopping lists!

While online shopping helps shoppers to avoid large crowds during the pandemic, it can also be a minefield full of scammers.

A cybersecurity expert observed a significant surge in data breach cases right after the online holiday shopping season. An average of 50% of the annual data breaches has been reported each year in November and December alone.

When transactions are made from behind the black mirrors, it’s impossible to detect which website is a scam or legitimate.

And since the boomer members in our family are a little oblivious to technology, they easily fall victim to online scams and lose thousands of dollars in the process.

And if you’re not wise enough to detect scammers, you likely get more than a free gift you’ve bargained for!

Well, not anymore!

We’ve gathered a handy guide on how to sniff out potential scammers and have a secure online shopping experience. Here are our six sketchy Cyber Monday scams 2020.

Beware of the “non-delivery” Frauds:

It feels awful when you purchase something online and it doesn’t get delivered…That’s when you need to be aware of Cyber Monday scams or Cyber scammers.

Sadly, “non-delivery” scams are the most commonly found holiday online shopping scams. FBI reported that non-delivery scams cause nearly $183+ million in losses and looted over 65,000 people every year.  

Whenever you shop online, make sure that you check the tracking number for any of your purchased items. In this way, you can keep track of your order and monitor the delivery progress. It has been recommended not to shop from retailers that do not provide you with an order tracking number after purchase.

Watch out for sketchy online retailers

If you’re tempted to hit “check out” on an amazing deal from an unknown retailer, it’s better to hold for a minute and do some research and figure out if the retailer is authentic and legitimate!

Check if they have legitimate ratings and feedback from REAL customers. Never turn a blind eye on every retailer you find online! FBI warns and states to stay aware of sellers and buyers having unreasonable ratings including no ratings.

Leave no stone unturned!

While reviewing the retailer’s website, make sure the website seems professional and features the retailer’s contact number and physical address. The biggest red flag of fraudulent sites that they normally don’t include a contact number and if they do, they are mostly unreachable. So, make sure their given number is fully functional before making any transactions from them!

The cybersecurity expert advises buying only from websites which are SSL encrypted and have HTTPS URLs in addition to a lock icon.

Beware of foreign auctioneers

Watch out for sellers who pose to be an American resident but then says that they are not present within the country due to some family or business emergency. It’s best in your interest to avoid responding to an advertisement or auction posted under two or more names. There have been cases in which a scammer posted an advertisement under one name, but demand payment with another name…

Be wise when using gift cards

There are also such cases in which a third party seller asks you to buy a prepaid gift card from a big retailer like Amazon, Walmart, or iTunes and then use it while checking out.

When the seller gets your credit card information and PIN, they easily get access to all your money and can use it however and wherever they want to spend. And to add fuel to the fire, they can’t usually be traced! So, there’s hardly any luck to get your money back…

The Federal Commission (FTC) says, “Gift cards are for gifts, not payments.” So remember if anyone asks for payment by gift card is always a scammer!

Don’t respond to any mysterious messages and emails!

One way scammers usually lure people into their scams is through landing in their DM. If you get an email posing to be a well-known retailer, asking you to update your payment method, it’s recommended that you should contact the original website to confirm the legitimacy of that email!

Don’t click on the links sent to you via mysterious emails!

If you get a message or text telling you there’s a problem with your order or ask you to fix your payment for an item you don’t remember ordering, beware! Those messages are actually phishing emails that ask for sensitive personal information such as credit card or bank account numbers after you click on the link.

Have a safe and secure online shopping experience and stay tuned to Hayvine to know more about Cyber Monday scams to avoid!