Beware of online business scams.image: keystone
Web scammers imitate online stores. With some prior knowledge, you will be able to spot them. If you are a victim, do not hesitate to contact the federal platform dedicated to the fight against this type of scam.
Julia Tichler / ch media
The pizza is paid for in a few clicks, but it never arrives at its destination. Because what looked like the online store of the famous pizza chain Dieci turned out to be a perfect copy of the original. Only the most vigilant pizza lovers spotted the intruder, the capital I in the domain name “dIeci.ch”. Customers accessed the fake pizza shop through fraudulent Google ads, Dieci says on its homepage.
Manor, Switzerland’s largest department store chain, experienced something similar at the end of August. Customers have been informed:
“In recent days, cybercriminals have attempted to obtain personal data and credit card information from our customers by copying Manor websites and fake social media profiles.”
The Manor Group
The Mode Weber brand has also been used recently as bait in an attempt to sell clothing at low prices.
10,007 fraudulent sites
Dieci, Manor and Mode Weber are not isolated cases. On the contrary, the phenomenon of fake online stores is neither new nor rare. Complaints concerning phishing sites, phishing in French, have for years been among the most reported cyber incidents to the Federal Office for Cybersecurity (OFCS), as it indicated.
According to the OFCS anti-phishing report, 10,007 phishing sites could be identified last year. The report indicates that it is mainly well-known Swiss brands and companies that arouse the appetite of scammers: they represent around two thirds of cases. First place – unenviable – goes to the Swiss Post, followed by SwissPass, the platform dedicated to purchasing transport tickets.
The Swiss population is not aware of the danger
A study carried out by the GFS Zurich survey institute confirms the widespread distribution of phishing sites. According to this, one in ten people questioned have already been defrauded on an online store or reservation platform in the last five years. But few people worry: more than 80% of those surveyed said they rarely or never worry about fraud on shopping platforms.
This makes experts think: protection against fraud depends on the behavior of individuals on the Internet, believes Marc Peter, professor at the University of Applied Sciences of North-West Switzerland, located in German-speaking Switzerland. People cannot simply rely on the authorities’ preventive measures.
“Real-world security measures, like locking your apartment door, should also apply to the cyber dimension”
Marc Peter, professor at HESNO
Good things to know
But how can you prevent fraudsters from entering your digital privacy? A list of signs of fake online stores can be found on the OFCS homepage. These include the lack of evaluation criteria and the absence of options for returning the goods. Incomplete, incorrect or missing legal notices are also revealing.
On closer inspection, you can often recognize a suspicious Internet address. Doubtful sites must be reported to the OFCS on the anti-phishing page specially created for this purpose.
In addition, the OFCS advises enabling multi-factor authentication for online accounts such as email or social media wherever possible and not reusing passwords. This helps prevent fraudsters from misusing account information obtained online multiple times.
Don’t be ashamed
But it is especially important to have a “first aid” plan after a successful phishing, explains Katja Dörlemann, president of the IT security company Swiss Internet Security Alliance. Few people have the reflex to contact the bank or report the suspicious site to Bacs. You should not be ashamed of having been a victim of such a situation, because according to Katja Dörlemann, it is difficult to ensure 100% protection.
Translated and adapted from German by Léa Krejci
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