We know you are excited, but it’s always good to exercise some caution before you splurge your hard-earned money on something, especially when you prefer buying stuff online.

This is because the mega sales, known as the Singles’ Day, is the perfect opportunity for e-commerce fraudsters to prowl on unsuspecting victims.

Too good to be true

Cybersecurity company LGMS founder CF Fong told The Star Online that fraudsters would take this opportunity to prey on online buyers by offering them “too good to be true” prices.

“Even without the 11.11 sales there is already e-commerce fraud, but with the sales, it will certainly increase the chances of it happening, ” he was quoted as saying.

Fong urged consumers to buy from reputable websites and verify the vendors before buying to avoid falling into a trap.

He also warned that if a product was sold at an “unbelievable price”, then it probably was “too good to be true”.

Shop 'til you forget

Meanwhile, Information security company Spectrum Edge cybersecurity consultant Kelvin Goh told the news portal that fraud cases involving credit card, e-wallet and online banking transactions might increase during the sales period due to ignorant mindsets, the lack of security awareness and poor personal security devices (mobile phone, tablet, laptop).

“Naturally, as more people shop online, attackers have more victims. So, with the huge increase in volume in terms of transactions and logs, credit card companies will struggle to keep pace in monitoring or even identifying fraudulent transactions if they don’t have proper fraud blocking strategies in place, ” he told The Star Online.

As such, he advised shoppers to monitor their online transactions by ensuring the banks have the right information and send them alerts when they make an online transaction.

On top of that, cybersecurity and anti-virus provider company Kaspersky corporate communications head for APAC Jesmond Chang told the news portal that fraudsters might also use different kinds of malware to dupe online buyers.

Well-known online retailers such as Lazada, Zalora, Taobao and Shopee usually fall victim to such malwares, Chang cautioned.

There you have it, boys and girls! With so many ill-intentioned people out to cheat you, do proceed with caution when you shop online!