Criminals have been busy developing sophisticated Black Friday and Cyber Monday scams designed to exploit shoppers looking for deals over the coming days.
ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said reported losses from scams in the lead-up to Christmas have more than tripled in the past three years, with this busy shopping period set to increase the number further.
"Scammers often try to take advantage of people doing their Christmas shopping including in the upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales," she said.
"We encourage everyone to do their research before making an online purchase and if purchasing expensive goods, not to make payment until they have inspected the product."
EMAIL AND SOCIAL MEDIA SCAMS
Companies have been busy advertising Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales using email and social media posts, which is something being exploited by scammers.
Cyber criminals have developed phishing scams designed to harvest personal data of unsuspecting victims through fake websites carefully designed to mimic actual brands.
"Warning signs for online shopping scams include extremely low advertised prices and requests to pay through direct bank transfer or cryptocurrency," Rickard said.
The best way to protect yourself is to check the email or social media post is linking to the actual website you were hoping to purchase from - sites should be using HTTPS technology, which is indicated with a padlock in your browser's address bar.
If you are in doubt, visit the website independently to see if the deal is on offer.
You should also never open an attachment that seems suspicious, as files from unknown senders often contain malware or a virus. Take a close look at the email address and the text in the body of the email – even if it looks legitimate, poor spelling and grammar mistakes are tell-tale signs it has been forged.
DIGITAL CREDIT CARD SKIMMING
Hackers can insert malicious code directly onto websites, which can harvest payment details without your knowledge.
Customers of US department store Macy's suffered such a scam when they had their names, phone numbers, email addresses and credit card details stolen in October.
While there's no obvious way to tell a website has been compromised, shoppers can protect themselves by never saving credit card information on retail sites and by enabling purchase alerts on all bank cards.
Further protection can be offered by using third-party payment methods like Apple Pay, Google Wallet or PayPal.
Some financial institutions also offer a service that provides temporary bank card numbers to ensure your information stays secure.
OTHER TIPS TO KEEP YOU SAFE
If you want to add an extra layer of protection to your Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping, make sure you are never using unsecured Wi-Fi networks at coffee shops, airports and other public spaces as hackers can use them to distribute malware.
It's also worthwhile making sure your favourite browser has been updated with the latest software, with Microsoft, Apple, Google and Mozilla all very adept at spotting scams.
While most updates are now carried out automatically, you can find the steps to manually check if your browser needs an update here.
