Despite the holiday season being the perfect opportunity for scammers, many consumers are happily turning a blind eye to that fact. According to a new report by Kaspersky, consumers are happily sharing their private information with various retailers in exchange for the promise of a discount, and don’t really care if the website they’re browsing looks suspicious.
While the majority (84 percent) are willing to share things like email addresses and telephone numbers in exchange for a fat discount, just a quarter (25 percent) are aware scams rise during the Christmas holidays and would rather keep their personal data to themselves. Even less – 17 percent – say they’d only shop with large brands to stay safe.
Furthermore, most consumers would browse a website that looked fishy, and wouldn’t think much of unknown brands that offer huge discounts (which could end up being a scam).
“If it looks to good to be true, it probably is,” warns Kaspersky, while giving a few useful tips to consumers everywhere:
- Only shop with legitimate online stores
- Complete purchases through secure payment methods
- Verify discounts, especially the ones received via email
- Keep your device software and applications up-to-date and protect all your devices with a reputable internet security product
- Manage your passwords
“Emails with bargains and offers land in our inbox and with just a few clicks the goods can be winging their way to our homes without us having to ever leave the sofa. But this can be a risky business at the best of times,” said David Emm, Principal Security Researcher at Kaspersky.
“We encourage shoppers to be mindful and think about the data they are handing over in a bid for a bargain.”
