Cybersecurity Firm Urges Consumer Vigilance Ahead of Cyber Monday

DomainTools encouraged the 92 percent of U.S. consumers planning to shop on Cyber Monday -- Nov. 27 -- to be aware of phishing and counterfeiting. Forty percent of U.S. consumers have been victims of a phishing attack, even though 91 percent are aware of spoofed websites or phishing emails from trusted brands, the cybersecurity firm said. The amount of cybercrime increased with popularity of Cyber Monday, said CEO Tim Chen. Various techniques are used to trick shoppers into visiting a fake website or clicking on a malicious link, Chen said, which could result in a shopper unintentionally sharing information or downloading ransomware. Some 119,000 unique phishing sites were detected in November 2016, targeting more than 300 brands, said Chen, citing Anti-Phishing Working Group data. The brands most likely to be spoofed this month likely correspond with the most popular online retailers, which according to the survey include Amazon (82 percent), Walmart (36 percent), and Target (20 percent), he said. Tips: be paranoid; first assume links are dangerous; navigate directly to a company's site instead of clicking on links in emails or social media; and examine URLs and email senders for typos. The shopping plan survey was Oct. 5-7 with 1,000 respondents.