Six tips to avoid falling victim to cybercrime during the sales

• Company experts have stressed that, just as we know how to protect our cards or money in the physical world, it is also essential to be aware of how to do it with our bank details in the online world.
• Verifying that we are on the official page where we want to buy, not storing our payment data or activating the double authentication factor when paying, are just some habits that will be of great help to avoid falling into the nets of cyber-scammers.

Valencia, June 27, 2022.- The Valencian company S2 Grupo, specialized in cybersecurity as well as cyberintelligence and critical systems management, has warned that with the arrival of the sales season there is an increase in online shopping and, accordingly, in cybercrime activity.

"The online world has transformed consumer habits, every year the amount of online shopping we do is increasing and yet very few people take the precaution of protecting their banking data on the Internet. This is essential, we must be aware that just as it is important to protect our money or cards on a physical level, we must do the same with them in digital environments", explained José Rosell, managing partner of S2 Grupo.

"Cybercrime is continually refining its methods of action in order to gain access to our banking data in a more subtle way. For this, we must know guidelines to make safe online purchases and that do not put us in an extremely vulnerable position against the cyberattacker. Verifying that we are on the official page where we want to buy, not storing our payment data or activating the double authentication factor when paying, are just some habits that will be of great help", said Miguel A. Juan, managing partner of S2 Grupo.

How to protect our banking data?

1. Verify that the web portal we are visiting is legitimate and there is no danger of fraud - To do this, we only have to check the web address meticulously and verify that it is the official one. In many cases, they change a simple letter of the web address thus supplanting the identity of the official store without the user realizing it, and if they do not pay attention to this, they may believe they are in the real store.
2. Make sure that the web address begins with https and has a closed padlock next to it. If instead the legend "It is not safe" or a sign of danger appears, it is not advisable to continue browsing in that website.
3. Other security measures that protect banking data, even when we are not shopping, are the activation of the double authentication factor in the applications or websites of stores where we shop.
4. Safe surfing and malicious links - Avoid websites with exorbitant discounts and offers. These sites usually contain malicious links that lead to fake shopping pages. The objective is twofold: to get our bank details and keep the money from a fake purchase.   
5. Research: It is always interesting to check the return policy of the place where we are going to buy, their contact information, look for opinions of the purchase experience of other users, etc.
6. To avoid virtual theft of cards, it is advisable not to store our payment data in the places we use most often or to which we are subscribed such as Netflix, Spotify or Amazon. Although it is very convenient to do so, with this action we put our banking data at risk if we do not protect those accounts with adequate security measures. The main thing will be to establish a good password. Different from all the others we use and robust. In addition, it is necessary to activate the double authentication factor in all the services that allow it. Thus, if someone steals the password, when trying to enter the service, you will be asked for a single-use code to confirm that you are the owner of the account. This code will be sent only to us, either by SMS, email or through an application, so that the access data will be protected.

More information:

prensa@s2grupo.es