With the increase in online shopping, the number of victims of internet fraud has also increased. Among the most popular scams during this period, the package in storage. Here’s what it is and how to avoid it.

As Christmas approaches, the joy of buying gifts for loved ones increases. Italian consumers seem to prefer e-commerce to physical stores this year. It is estimated that about 67% will use online channels for their holiday purchases.

However, as many already know, the web is full of dangers and scams are always around the corner. These days, internet fraud is mushrooming and more and more victims are being counted.

The “package in stock” scam is the last frontier of online scams. Here’s what it is and how to avoid it.

Online Shopping and Package in Storage Scams: How to Identify and Avoid It

During these Christmas holidays, consumers seem to prefer to rely on e-commerce for their purchases. Because of this, the cases of online frauds have increased significantly. Also, the postal police themselves are issuing phishing alarms to warn customers. Some details may change, but the technique used by web criminals is substantially the same.

Basically, cybercriminals, posing as a reputable shipping company or post office, inform unsuspecting victims via email that there is a blocked package for them, invite them to click on the link shown, and provide their sensitive data to complete the shipment. . Running into fraud is much easier than one might think, as the accounts used are almost always very similar to the authentic ones. However, they can be identified by the lack of SSL certification. In fact, these addresses never start with “http”, but start with “http”.

In these cases, as explained by the postal police, it is advisable not to click on the hypertext link, which will take you to a page inviting users to make a payment to release the shipment, while web criminals will access the information on unsuspecting unfortunates. Finally, we remind you that this type of fraud does not only use an e-mail address, it can also appear in the form of a text message. In this case, it is recommended to block the sender immediately and avoid the second undesirable effect. That is, all the contacts in the address book may be included in the unwanted scam.