Valentine’s Day is approaching, which opens up a window for Valentine’s Day ‘themed’ cyberattacks. There are already lots of warnings circulating, telling individuals to be extra cautious of messages they receive around this time.
Fraudsters use a range of methods to trick innocent victims into sending money or sharing highly sensitive information. At this time of year, they also exploit the fact that many individuals feel lonely and are looking for love, which gives them more ammunition when it comes to luring victims.
Whether you’re looking for love or not, Cybercriminals may still target you - so it’s important to understand how you can prevent an attack.
At DynaRisk we believe that everyone should be able to protect themselves online, without it being over complicated. That’s why we’ve pulled together a simple, quick list of warning signs, that you can look out for this Valentine's Day:
1) Discounts and messages from unverified sources
What to look out for:
Be wary of emails or text messages you receive with ‘Valentine’s Day’ offers - from businesses such as florists, restaurants and other retailers. If a discount or product price looks too good to be true, it’s probably because it’s not legitimate. It is very common for legitimate businesses to run offers and discounts at Valentine’s, but it’s also very common for hackers to exploit this, by sending scam messages.
What to do:
Do not click on anything or engage with any messages until you have verified that the sender and message is legitimate. If you click on a link in a scam message it could mean that your device becomes infected with malware, or your information could be shared. Usually you can spot that a message is a scam by the poor layout of the message along with misspelling and an unusual sender email or number, but this isn't always the case. If you’re still unsure, you can reach out to the business through other channels (phone, social media etc) to double check.
2) Contact from unknown individuals
What to look out for:
If you, a friend, or a family member is likely to feel lonely at this time of year, be incredibly wary of anyone reaching out ‘looking for love’. Hackers are professionals and put a lot of time and effort into scamming their victims. They can set up fake social media accounts and deliberately target someone who is vulnerable.
What to do:
Don’t engage with any requests or messages unless you are confident that they are legitimate. If you are worried about a friend or family member, try and inform them on signs they can look out for, that usually tells us it’s a hacker in disguise:
- Someone sending you random friend requests or messages with no mutual friends or connections
- Someone asking for personal or sensitive information
- Messages saying that you have received a digital 'Valentine's Day Greeting Card'
- Someone that you don't trust, asking for money and help
- Someone that you don’t trust, sending you things to click or download
3) Delivery notifications asking you to provide information or click links
What to look out for:
As well as offers and discounts, it’s important to be wary of ‘delivery’ emails and messages you receive during this time. A lot of individuals order gifts online at this time of year, which gives hackers plenty of opportunities to send fake delivery notifications to trick victims.
What to do:
Don’t click on any links in emails or text messages you receive, until you have verified that the sender and message is legitimate. If you are unsure, you can call the provider or contact their customer service team to check.
Here are just a few examples of Valentine’s Day themed scams our Intel team have seen recently:
Below is an image of fake goods being sold via social media. Although there is no mention of Valentine's, this is a good example of hackers using discounts and offers to trick victims, at a time when they're likely to be looking for gifts.
Staying safe online doesn’t have to be difficult. We believe that Cyber-safety should be simple for everyone. Our all-in-one solution helps individuals protect themselves and their families online, through monitoring, education and simple tasks to help prevent attacks.
If you want to find out more about how we can help you, your business or your customers, please get in touch with our team on info@dynarisk.com or you can find out some more about our consumer solution, Cyber Xpert, here.