BrandShield Systems PLC (AIM:BRSD) has warned of an expected rise in e-commerce fraud ahead Black Friday.
Analysis presented by the London-listed cyber security firm found that an increase in website domain registrations that could be misrepresented as being associated with popular electronic brands and consumer products increased dramatically last year, with the same anticipated this festive period.
PlayStation and Nike were the most targeted brands, according to BrandShield, wihich saw suspicious domain registrations increasing by 127% and 88% respectively.
“We anticipate cybercriminal activity targeting online shoppers to intensify further this year, and we have already begun seeing an uptick of fraudulent product listings and website,” said chief executive Yoav Keren.
The UK headquartered company outlined several tips to help buyers avoid being scammed. They include checking for typos and spelling errors within the URL and across the website page, negative reviews, and a padlock image at the start of the URL, all of which usually indicate fraudulent activity.
Black Friday this year is expected to be the largest in the U.K to date, with an anticipated GBP9.42bn to be spent by consumers over the weekend.
READ: Hacking attacks at record high sparks boom for cybersecurity firms
Cyber-crime in general has been on the rise since the start of the pandemic, with companies forking out millions to better protect themselves.
Notably, Corero Network Security PLC (AIM:CNS), a provider of high-performance distribution denial of service attacks, announced last week that it had secured several significant customer orders totalling over US$4mln.
