- Research shows that fraud with Christmas packages has doubled year on year
- Over 33,500 phishing attacks have been distributed so far
- Package scams, fake giveaways and fake dealer sites are the ones to watch out for
The holiday season always presents serious opportunities for fraudsters, who take advantage of the existing sales season, surge in legitimate ads and generally rush to buy — but this year, however, it’s been sped up by (you guessed it) AI.
In the past, fraudsters had to take time and effort to create convincing-looking phishing attacks or fake web pages – which required a certain level of skill to fool unsuspecting internet users. But now all criminals need is AI.
New Check Point research found this holiday season has already seen over 33,500 holiday-themed phishing attacks distributed, as well as over 10,000 seasonal social media ads flagged as suspicious.
What to look for
The researchers identify three particularly common scams at this time of year; postage phishing attacks, fake retail sites and social media ‘giveaways’. AI has improved the effectiveness of each of these attacks, but there are still ways to identify a scam.
Most of us will have experienced a package scam in recent years, and admittedly, even I have come close to falling for some of these – so beware as researchers have seen these scams double since last year.
It usually consists of a fake text or email from a number claiming to be Royal Mail, FedEx, UPS or similar – telling you that you’ve missed a package or need to give more information to the courier. It will provide a link that will ultimately lead to credential theft or even payment fraud.
There has been a similar rise in fake retail sites with huge ‘Christmas deals’, often with AI-powered chat assistants to pretend genuine customer service. These will encourage you to take advantage of offers while they last and ultimately steal your payment information and personal data.
Similarly, social media ‘giveaways’ rise in and around the holidays, promising enticing prizes, but winners (all) have to pay a ‘delivery fee’ which they will steal along with your card details.
Stay safe
The trick to staying safe from these is to understand them, be alert, and be wary of anything you don’t expect or that feels too good to be true.
Most of us will order a package in one form or another, so be sure to check the correspondence of the official dealer to check the tracking and order progress – do not click on any of the links sent in texts.
If you see a lot on a website, be careful. Search the website separately to find the deal, and if you can’t, it’s most likely fake – don’t follow social media ads directly to the retailer’s site.
Giveaways is common around Christmas, but be sure to check the age of any account giving away prizes – anything under 180 days is unlikely to be legitimate. Also, if they can afford to ship inventory in giveaways, they can probably afford to cover the shipping fee.
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