Welcome to Cyber Security Today. It’s Friday June 18. I’m Howard Solomon, contributing reporter on cybersecurity for ITWorldCanada.com.
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The two-day Amazon Prime Day sale begins Monday. It’s a time for great bargains, but also a time when cybercrooks will be online with fraudulent websites and phishing scams. Products ordered either don’t arrive, or are of flimsy quality. A security firm called Bolster warns shoppers to beware of sites promoting “Early Prime Day Deals.” They may not be legitimate. Crooks use all sorts of tricks, including putting ‘amazon.com’ in the middle of a websites’ address. Another is fooling people into setting up a phony Amazon Wallet for paying for purchases. Watch for suspicious internet addresses of the site with the wallet. A security firm called Armourblox noted last year a scammer sent out an email notice claiming the victim’s payment method had failed. The email included a link for victims to update their account information or risk losing their Amazon order. The link led to a lookalike site that asked not just for the victim’s account credentials, but also their billing and shipping addresses. There also emails with voicemail recordings – sometimes impersonating a courier company – trying to get personal information about a shipped product. Be wary of sharing personal information over the phone.
So be a smart shopper. Start your shopping by going to Amazon.ca or .com yourself rather that clicking on a link in an email or text message. When setting up a new Amazon account, make sure you’re on a real Amazon website. Don’t use the same password you use for something else. When setting up an account make sure mutlifactor authentication is enabled. Know the usual price of something you want to buy so you’re not tricked by a price that’s too good to be true.
That’s it for now. Later this afternoon you can tune into the Week In Review edition. Guest commentator Terry Cutler of Cyology Labs and I will deconstruct the cybersecurity section of the meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Remember links to details about podcast are in the text version at ITWorldCanada.com. That’s where you’ll also find other stories of mine.
Follow Cyber Security Today on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or add us to your Flash Briefing on your smart speaker. Thanks for listening. I’m Howard Solomon