A global fraud security solutions company called Netcraft said in a report that scammers have been flooding the internet with fake online stores, which led to a 135% rise by the end of October 2023.
Cybercriminals can take advantage of shoppers who trust more easily on Black Friday and Cyber Monday when many real websites offer tremendous deals on authentic goods.
The study says that fake online shops either pretend to be the websites of well-known brands and retailers or work with more than one brand, even though they say they have huge sales on goods.
The report also said that the websites are often just fronts for getting private information like payment details. The information that buyers give can be used by cybercriminals themselves or sold to other cybercriminals.
In the United States, Black Friday is a slang word for the Friday after Thanksgiving. Many people in the United States start their Christmas shopping around this time. It has, however, spread around the world, and every year, many shops in Nigeria mark the occasion by offering discounts on their goods.
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Increasing slowly
According to Netcraft’s research, the number of fake retail sites blocked has skyrocketed 135% since October 2022 compared to October 2022. This is on top of an increase of 63% from October 2022, meaning that the annual increase has more than doubled in the last year, on top of already alarming growth.
To make the scam seem more real, these fake retail sites use copies of the accurate site’s logos, trademarks, and goods. But that’s not the only trick cybercriminals use. Also, they run fake shopping sites on shady domains. Usually, this is done by registering a domain name that looks a lot like the name of another (usually well-known) business. Additionally, the goal is to make people think they are using a reliable website, as stated earlier.
How to spot fake online stores
According to the Netcraft study, shoppers can avoid becoming victims. Their list of questions is as follows:
Is the pricing too reasonable? Faux shops typically promise 50% to 95% discounts, striking out a fictional old (perhaps exaggerated) pricing. This can be useful for brands that rarely provide discounts.
Do you have a phone number or address for the shop? The absence of these and generic and templated content in the ‘about us’ section, which could be used for any organisation, indicates hostile intent.
How’s the site promoted? Fake shops use social media symbols without connections or with fake profiles.
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“How well-designed is the page? Most fake retail sites use a well-known logo on a predesigned template from the cybercriminal. Another clue is ‘brand mismatching,’ such as a fake electrical products business with Nike emblems.
Is the site a problematic domain? A typical mis-spelling, the inclusion of geo-based features [such as vionicskonorge.com], or an effort at deceit by adding a term like ‘sale’ or ‘discount’ to a legitimate brand are used by fake retail sites.
In 2022, 5.7 trillion dollars were spent on shopping online. About 41 billion dollars worth of fraud was done by cybercriminals and other threat actors during the same time frame.