BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 22. The threat of cyberattacks on the eve of the New Year's holidays is growing, the official representative of the Kaspersky Lab in Azerbaijan Mushfig Mammadov told Trend.
"The New Year's holidays may become a reason for the fraudsters to start their activity. Attackers can use social engineering techniques to lure money while pretending to collect donations. The phishing scam may deceive people into visiting fake websites by promising favorable conditions, discounts, and gifts," he explained.
According to him, on the eve of the holidays, both fake websites for real shops and non-existent stores appear on the network.
"One of the characteristic attributes of such resources is a counter indicating the time until the end of the "discount". Meanwhile, it is important to understand that it is very easy for scammers to make a phishing page," he explained.
Mammadov noted that in order not to fall into the trap, one needs to be careful about any "tempting" offers and "grandiose" discounts, and be critical of unfamiliar sites where the user has to make any purchases.
"There is a good reason to suspect that the online shop is fake if it has few products. Also, if the URL of a well-known site seems strange, it may be cause for concern. It is better to trust official stores," he said.
Mammadov suggests looking for reviews if the website is new. It is also possible to choose the option "payment upon receipt" or purchase with a separate card, which would contain a small amount of money.
"And, of course, it is worth using a reliable security solution that will protect a user from unwanted clicks on doubtful links," Mammadov added.
Mammadov noted that in 2021 alone, Kaspersky Lab experts blocked 1.2 million unique phishing pages created with the help of 469 hackers, and that consisted of ready-made samples. Even scammers who do not have deep technical knowledge could fall into the trap.