Millions of shoppers are prepping to find the best deals before hitting stores on Black Friday. But if you are looking online for the best prices, understand the scammers have already done their homework and are waiting for you.
“They know people are looking for stuff to click on. They know they are going to spend and the criminals want them to spend with them,” said Tim Helming.
Tim Helming is a computer security expert with DomainTools out of Seattle.
Helming said there are potentially thousands of Black Friday mobile apps designed to steal your information.
“Now they can get into your account. Now they know all your account history, they could make fraudulent purchases in your name -that are never going to show up on your door,” said Helming
The best way to protect yourself is to get your apps straight from the Apple Store or Google Play for Android.
Helming said to also check the apps’ description. “Make sure the name of the apps developer corresponds to who the retailer is supposed to be. If you are getting something from Amazon, Target, you name it.”
The phishing emails continue too -fake deals looking like they come from major retailers.
Click the link and it could send you to a very bad place.
“You could have a so-called drive-by download, right, where here malware silently is downloaded from that page,” said Helming.
If an advertisement has a promo code, don’t fall for it right away.
“If there is a promo code in the email. Take that promo code, yourself, go to the site without clicking on the email. Enter it in and away you go. That’s a safer way to go,” said Helming.
You need to have unique passwords. So, if someone does get your password for one site, they won’t have it for others.
