Black Friday cyber security warning for shoppers in the north west

Shoppers are still not protecting themselves online

A fifth (20%) of UK shoppers say they have been victims of Internet fraud amid continued high levels of online crime and low levels of cyber security.

As Black Friday and Cyber Monday are expected to kick off an explosion in online shopping ahead of Christmas, with consumers expected to spend £8bn on deals, too many shoppers are still not protecting themselves online.

As a result, online shoppers in the north west are losing money due to a combination of internet scams, weak passwords and misplaced trust in websites.

New research shows consumers in the north west remain at risk of online cyber-attacks as they make some basic security mistakes:

• Over half (58%) of survey respondents don’t choose a different password for each online account, which makes them easier to attack one step ahead of cyber criminals.
• 20% admit to using family members’ birthdays and pet names as passwords despite warnings that such information is readily accessible online - giving hackers vital clues to access data.
• One in ten (13%) save their credit card details on shared computers, rather than use an ‘on demand’ password manager.

Two in five (42%) of those surveyed who had been victims of fraud say they have had money taken from their bank accounts without permission, 26% have had their credit card cloned and 21% have had their debit card cloned.

Nearly two in five (37%) online shoppers say they have clicked on an apparently genuine email link that turned out to be fake and 15% say they have fallen victim to a phishing scam - where cyber criminals trick their victims into handing over user names, passwords and credit card details.

You can take the following online precautions before hunting for bargains over Black Friday and Cyber Monday:

• Use a web filter. Web filters, stop you from browsing to websites that are known to be used for scams, phishing or spreading malware.
• Use a password manager. Password managers create, remember and enter passwords for you, and they won’t enter your password into a phishing site, no matter how convincing it looks.
• If it looks too good to be true, it is. Scams make wild claims and use familiar brands or friends and family to make them seem trustworthy. Stay alert - if something seems off, it probably is.
• Check your bank statements regularly. You can reduce the chance that you’ll become the victim of a scam but you can’t eliminate it, so make a habit of checking how your money's spent.