Be careful about Valentine's Day phishing schemes, experts warn

Dubai - A recent survey found that 50% of respondents in the UAE said that they are not reporting suspect e-mails to their IT or security departments.

With a surge in online orders being predicted for Valentine’s Day this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, security experts have warned shoppers to be careful about cybersecurity and phishing schemes when buying products for their loved ones.

“Valentine’s Day 2021 might look a little different this year with Covid-19 restrictions likely dampening the mood,” said Carl Wearn, head of Threat Intelligence Risk & Resilience at Mimecast. “And while this may prevent couples from dining out in droves, cyberthreat actors will seize the opportunity to attack unsuspecting lovers.”

He further explained that organisations also have to be more careful about Valentine’s Day phishing schemes this year, because more employees are using corporate-owned devices for personal use and the threat of targeted phishing attacks looms large. A recent Mimecast survey found that 87 per cent of respondents in the UAE said that they extensively use company-issued devices for personal matters, while 66 per cent reported an increase in personal usage of company-owned devices this year.

In addition, the results of the survey showed that 50 per cent said that they are not reporting suspect e-mails to their IT or security departments, leaving organisations at risk for serious breaches.

“Romance fraud increases exponentially year on year, and with the current pandemic this year will almost certainly be a bumper one for online romance fraudsters,” Wearn said. “If you believe you have been a victim please, please speak to friends or family and report it to the police. This kind of offending can, and does cause real hardship as criminals seek to take advantage of an individual’s good nature and demand ever increasing amounts of money.”

rohma@khaleejtimes.com