With Diwali approaching, Indians are actively shopping for luxury and other items both online and offline. E-commerce sites are seeing a surge in traffic as shoppers hunt for great deals. Unfortunately, during the festive season, cybercriminals tend to become more active and employ new tactics to deceive people and swindle them out of their money.
One particular scam currently on the rise targets Flipkart users by exploiting the name of the Flipkart Pay Later option, tricking people into giving away their OTPs and more. To help prevent online shopping scams, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has issued an advisory detailing how scammers target users and offering tips for staying protected. Here are type of scams: 1.
Phishing Scams: Deceptive individuals send out fraudulent emails or messages impersonating reputable companies in order to steal users' sensitive information such as login credentials or personal data. 2. Lottery and Prize Scams: Victims are lured into paying fees to claim a prize or lottery that they never actually participated in.
Emotional Manipulation Scams: Scammers create fictitious online dating profiles to manipulate individuals into sending them money by fabricating personal crises. 3. Job Scams: Fraudulent job postings require job seekers to make payments for applications, training, or background checks.
4. Tech Support Scams: Perpetrators falsely claim to address non-existent issues on victims' devices, gaining illicit remote access .