Online Shoppers Beware of Your Typos

lisaliving staff

In the crowded malls and on the streets you have to be especially careful in the holiday season, because the bad guys are out and about waiting to snatch what they can of your precious gifts. You’ve learned to leave your shopping bags in the trunks of your cars, and to hold on tight while still roaming the aisles for deals and that one last gift.

As you are conscious and aware in the real world, you also have to be careful online. The bad guys have stepped up their game to progress with technology.

According to Patrik Runald of Websense, an online security company, “Online holiday shopping is as engrained in the criminal culture as it is in the popular culture. Criminals are very adept at creating scams that look legitimate to the eyes of the shopper, but are instead meant to deliver malware and information-stealing code, rather than the items on your holiday list. As if this isn’t bad enough, the problem multiplies if the person shopping is an employee at work on their lunch break, potentially opening their business network up to expensive and embarrassing data theft.”

A recent study showed that the cyber criminals are taking advantage of your typos, for instance if you type WallMatt(dot)com instead of Walmart, Appple (dot)come instead of apple and Bestbuyh(dot)com instead of BestBuy, it will bring you to a site that will look like the legitimate addresses. More than 2000 of these domains have been created to catch the unsuspecting shopper.

As well, they will create the proper name but will take you to a .net or .org. This method is usually used through a promotion to claim a voucher or coupon then will ask you to enter your information to win another prize. At which point they can access your personal information that may lead to identity theft, phishing scams and malwar.

So take as much care in the safety of your home as you would in the malls and stores, by paying attention to what you are doing and the site you are visiting.