The global cybersecurity company McAfee's Christmas scam survey has revealed that around 56 per cent of Indians have been conned by discount scams. McAfee's survey, 'A Christmas Carol: Scam Edition' highlights how online sales during the festive season duped consumers by taking them to 'sketchy websites.'
With the rising cybercriminal activities in the country, almost one in every four Indian was deceived because of scams like phishing emails (25.3 per cent) and phishing texts (21.1 per cent).
Venkat Krishnapur, MD, McAfee India, said, "Consumers choose to beat the holiday rush by purchasing and booking online, but, as transactions surge, so do the cyber-attacks. With the sheer volume of people shopping online, they tend to get careless, carried away with discounts, and open themselves to phishing attacks, frauds, malicious websites, and viruses that aim to steal money and personal information."
According to the survey, 53.6 per cent people fell to scams and 28.6 per cent lost up to Rs 20,000 due to fake retail sites.
Throughout the festive season, 57.1 per cent fell victim to sim-jacking, while 60.2 per cent fell to robocalling.
Considering that travelling and vacations are a high priority for many citizens, 78.6 per cent of fell for seasonal travel scams.
As per the survey, 35.4 per cent of Indians confessed that they have been victims of phishing activities in which a malicious file was downloaded onto their device.
The survey also shows that more than 52 per cent of millennials have been conned by romance scams, and around 60 per cent were scammed by e-greetings.
Over 39 per cent of Indians were directed to phoney websites and were asked to provide their personal information -- name, phone number, credit card information -- with 40 per cent losing up to Rs 15,000.
Around 60.7 per cent of people fell for fake charities where the scammers asked them for donations. The survey also highlights that phoney gift cards were a new trend during this festive season.
(With Agency Inputs)
(Edited by Vivek Dubey)
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