14 DAY TRIAL // As expected, cybercriminals are leveraging the upcoming Black Friday to promote their schemes. According to Bitdefender experts, shady advertisements for cheap car insurance, designer clothing, smartphones, children’s books and hard-to-turn-down deals on Ford cars are already making the rounds.
Some of the ads – for instance, the ones promoting Ford cars – lead to relatively harmless websites, like ones that host online games. Others, on the other hand, point to surveys and purchase forms designed to collect personal information from unsuspecting users.
As always, cybercrooks rely on “interesting” stories in order to get their potential victims to click on links. One such email reads:
“Did you catch the Saturday night? It has actually happened – president Obama announced some very exciting news that benefits most drivers across America. As of October 14th (Sunday), a new law has passed that will significantly lower the price of auto-insurance rates to just $3.00 a week.”
No matter how good the offers sound, if they arrive via an unsolicited email or a shady social media post, they’re likely part of a malicious scheme. Also, remember to keep an eye on your antivirus program and make sure it’s running properly since in many cases it can keep you out of trouble.