Makwa IT Shares Top Customer Tips For Safe Black Friday Online Shopping:
According to a recent Finders survey on Black Friday 2021 shopping statistics, 47% of South African adults, or an estimated 18,5 million consumers will shop for Black Friday sales this year. Cybercriminals are known for following the money and this year studies indicate thatonline retail has more than doubled in just two years bringing the total of online retail in South Africa to R30,2-billion.
With Black Friday constantly growing in popularity and seeing an influx of customers looking to make purchases online, we can expect cybercriminals to ramp up their scams. Makwa IT is the youngest and fastest-growing technology company in South Africa and a trusted advisor in both the financial and retail sectors. As a proud product of our shores, built with passion, innovation and a laser focus on customer experience, Makwa IT has identified and unpacked top tips to save everyday South African’s from falling victim to cunning cybercriminals during this Black Friday rush.
1. Don’t fall for fake websites
With Black Friday deals popping up all over our screens, cybercriminals know where they will be going to try to score their biggest deals. Cybercriminals clone websites to trick unsuspecting customers into believing that they are on their favourite e-commerce sites.
Even when vising their most trusted e-commerce stores this Black Friday, consumers need to pay close attention to subtle differences like any strange changes to the complete website link or pixilated images on the site.
Cybercriminals work to make the cloned site identical to the original, so look out for the small things to stay safe during this Black Friday rush.
2. For all Black Friday online purchases opt for Credit over Debit
To greatly reduce risk, it’s advisable to refrain from using your debit card for online Black Friday purchases and to only shop on websites that have secure payment gateways with OTP authentication.
When cybercriminals steal your debit card details, they aren’t going to look at making a small purchase but will aim to clear out your account, greatly increasing the financial risk for customers. Another great benefit is that if a fraudulent purchase is made with your credit card, there is a greater chance of your financial institution reimbursing you. This process is more tedious with debit cards and if the card is cleaned out, reclaiming the money can be extremely difficult.
There is a lot of risk that also comes from using public Wi-Fi for online shopping and banking so please avoid this by all means, for even greater security, customers should enable two-factor authentication on shopping apps plus biometric and facial authentications on their devices if possible.
3. Avoid clicking on phishing emails with Black Friday deals
During this peak cybercrime period, to stay safe customers should stay clear of clicking on anything that they haven’t personally subscribed to receive.
Phishing scams work just as well as clickbait for cybercriminals and are the second most prevalent form of cybercrime. More than 90% of all cyberattacks come through phishing scams, typically the ad will promise a free cell phone or household device, requiring the user to share their details which are then be exploited for fraudulent activities.
As the date approaches, we can expect an increase of Black Friday spam emails with the most inviting subject lines making their way to our mailboxes. To avoid falling victim to this kind of cybercrime attack, do not click on any of these sales and if one of them is coming from your trusted e-commerce store, rather go and find the same deal on their website to verify it, if the deal is legitimate it will be on their website too, avoid taking any shortcuts.
For Makwa IT, informing and empowering everyday South African’s develop their ICT capacity and understanding is a top priority and we are happy for our expertise to be leveraged for this. Educating trusting consumers is crucial as many South African’s eagerly wait for Black Friday deals to get themselves, their families and friends long-awaited gifts and should not run the risk of falling victim to savvy cybercriminals because of a lack of information.
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About Makwa-IT
Makwa-IT Technologies (Pty) Ltd is a South Africa born, youth-owned digital technologies company that helps both private and public sector customers realise the benefits of digital transformation. The technology company boasts a world-class product portfolio with globally experienced professional services, engineering teams and intelligent managed services platform built with passion, innovation and focus on customer experience.
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