The holiday season is, for many a time to rest and enjoy time with friends and family, as well as some good food. For scammers, it’s the most fruitful time of the year. Why, you may ask?
Well, there are several reasons for this. The first and most obvious is that this is the season of giving and people tend to spend quite a lot of money on gifts for their loved ones. The season starts way before Black Friday or Cyber Monday. According to the National Retail Federation´s latest consumer survey, this Christmas is expected to reach a record average of $902 per person across gifts, food, decorations and other seasonal items.
As expected, most holiday shopping is done online nowadays. According to a recent survey, 44% of shoppers expect to do more than half of their shopping online in 2024. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the specific days that most people plan to do their holiday shopping, and while this period is a potential goldmine for scammers, just over half of those surveyed (53%) are concerned about being scammed. Interestingly, according to the survey responses the majority of people fall victim to online shopping scams and phishing scams ahead of other types of attacks.
However, it’s not only when online present buying that people are at risk over the holiday season. At this time of year people are often feeling increasingly charitable, making them more susceptible to falling for scams while acting in good faith. During the season of giving unfortunately people are often less cautious when it comes to spotting social engineering scams.
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Unwrapping holiday phishing
Phishing continues to evolve; in 2024 it has become more intricate and challenging to identify. Phishing attempts continue to increase in sophistication and are no longer generic emails with poor grammar, even amongst smaller language groups. Attackers are leveraging social engineering tactics as well as the many new technologies at their disposal. Thanks to large language models (LLMs) and AI, cybercriminals are able to produce and distribute convincing phishing communications. The replicated human writing style increases the messages credibility and enhances their probability of success.
A lot of email servers have built-in systems to recognise suspicious emails, however with the use of sophisticated tools, cybercriminals are often able to bypass these. These tools are also able to “write” these messages a lot faster, with a lot more personal detail and fewer grammatical errors than a human ever could.
All of this is especially dangerous before and during big holidays. A research piece by Barracuda Networks shows that spear-phishing attacks spike by more than 150% in the week leading up to Christmas.
Spread Christmas cheer, not cyber-fear
Here comes the question, is awareness enough to protect oneself against phishing attacks? A more secure way is to opt for a security solution with proper anti-phishing features.
Protecting your personal information and devices from these sophisticated attacks is crucial, and ESET Mobile Security is here to do just that.
With ESET Mobile Security, you get an all-in-one tool to safeguard against holiday phishing threat and its Link Scanner feature provides an additional layer of protection. If the user receives a phishing link in a message or an app and opens it, the link is redirected to the EMS app where it is checked, ensuring you don’t get tricked by fraudulent emails or messages.
The Anti-Phishing feature actively detects and blocks malicious websites, giving you peace of mind as you shop or browse. Plus, its Web Protection layer provides comprehensive safety, shielding you from phishing or fraudulent websites that could ruin your holiday cheer.
This holiday season don’t let cybercriminals ruin your cheer. Equip yourself with ESET Mobile Security and enjoy a secure, scam-free holiday season!