AgriLife Information Technology

Black Friday & Cyber Monday- Is That Deal too Good to be True?

According to research conducted by leading cybersecurity company, Bitdefender

56% of all Black Friday spam (by volume) received between Oct 26 and Nov 9 was marked as a scam

Just your yearly dose of Black Friday spam: Cybercrooks get ahead of the game to steal shoppers’ info (bitdefender.co.uk)

The same study found that the highest percentage of spam emails were sent to recipients located in the US.

Common Black Friday/ Cyber Monday Scams

Bitfender has also identified the most common subject lines of Black Friday/Cyber Monday scams.

Here are the top 2022 subject lines in English:

  • “black friday sale louis vuitton bags up to 86 off shop online now”
  • “black friday ray ban oakley costa sunglasses up to 90 off shop online now”
  • “cyber monday starts now but only for you”
  • “25 nov 2022 is black Friday”
  • “Claim Your $500 Home Depot Gift Card Now!”
  • “claim your 100 walmart reward just in time for black Friday”
  • “the black friday countdown has begun”

The biggest scam campaigns in the US for this year are:

  • discounted Louis Vuitton bags
  • discounted Ray Ban sunglasses
  • $500 gift card giveaway to Home Depot
  • $100 gift card to Walmart

Clicking the links in any of these emails can result in scammers getting your financial information.

Safety Tips

Tips for Emails

  • Confirm the sender is valid by checking the sender’s actual email address- not just name
  • Check for typos in the subject line and body of the email
  • If you can’t verify the sender’s legitimacy, don’t interact
  • Never click on or open links attachments from unfamiliar senders

Tips for Shopping Online

  • Avoid shopping on sites you are unfamiliar with
  • If you are going to shop on a new site, do your research, and make sure you can verify the company is valid
  • Use a secure, and up to date browser/app/device to shop

Did you know that AgriLife employees have access to Sophos Premium for free to use on personal devices?

Click here for more information and set up instructions.