Kaspersky researchers have reported on a sharp increase in fraudulent activities around e-commerce during an active sales period in Asian countries – Singles’ Day (November 11).
While Singles’ Day originates from China, it is now relevant to users of e-marketplaces all over the world. Pre-holiday promos and sales on global Asian platforms are welcomed internationally, and scammers are now targeting users in different languages.
Researchers detected a spike in financial phishing attacks before the big Singles’ Day sale in 2018. As can be seen from the graph below, the average number of financial phishing attacks fluctuated at around 350 000 per day in October. Then, a couple of days before 11 November 2018, the spike in attacks reached more than 950 000.
The researchers are also witnessing similar spam and phishing attacks at the moment and urge everyone to be careful with their purchases.
Apart from that, Kaspersky researchers have found some threats in mobile apps that were disguised as popular e-commerce platforms. The share of shops that have special offers for Singles’ Day is traditionally high. In 2019, 83% of the online shops were pretending to be Asian marketplaces, while in 2018 the number reached 93%.
“While Single’s Day is the best time to shop, as discounts and promotions are well-advertised to users, this is also a peak time for phishers and spammers,” comments Andrey Kostin, a security researcher at Kaspersky. “Fraudsters become more active during this period. In the pursuit of great discounts and limited offers, people lose their vigilance and are less likely to distinguish a phishing website from a legitimate one.
“However, such things should not be an obstacle for those hunting the best offers. Consumers have nothing to worry about if they follow the rules of basic cybersecurity hygiene, so good luck to everyone in finding the greatest deals of the year.”