There has been an uptick in Christmas-related spam emails since November, with cybercriminals impersonating popular brands to take advantage of people during the holiday season, Bitdefender said on Wednesday.
The cybersecurity firm said it has observed a steady rise in spam emails since November 13. According to Bitdefender Antispam Lab, three in every 10 unsolicited Christmas-themed emails users received between November 13 and December 12 were spam.
People in the US have received the most spam emails tracked by the Antispam Lab (29%), while Irish (19%) and French (13%) internet users make up the top three.
“Scammers are likely to cash in on a range of scams over the holiday season if you don’t keep a watchful eye and stay up to date on their latest tricks,” Bitdefender warned.
The US, Ireland, France, Germany, and the UK were the top destinations of these spam emails. These five countries accounted for 80% of the emails tracked by Bitdefender. The firm also shed light on where these spam emails originated.
“32% of all Christmas-themed spam emails (by volume) were sent from IP addresses in the US, 18% from France, 13% from China and 9% from the UK,” Bitdefender stated.
Scammers Are Impersonating Brands Like Walmart, Alibaba, Binance to Entice Victims
The scammers behind these spam emails exploit the flurry of Christmas discounts and other promotional activity that most brands engage in. Impersonating known brands from across the globe — like Temu, Alibaba, Aliexpress, Carrefour, Kaufland, Edenred, Walmart, Kmart, Home Depot, and Binance — these emails are designed to entice targets by offering massive discounts or special gifts if they fill in a Christmas survey.
The ultimate goal is to get targets to click on malicious links that take them to unsafe sites.
“Threat actors also impersonated cryptocurrency exchange platform Binance to trick “qualified” users into handing out their credentials for a chance to win a share of a $380,000 promotion by collecting “all five unique Christmas Gift,”” Bitdefender said in its blog post.
Some emails told users about a fake survey where they’re required to hand over their personal information and even make a small delivery payment to receive a gift.
“All of the fake surveys we analyzed asked recipients to provide their name, contact information (phone number and email address), and address before paying a small shipping fee (usually just a couple of dollars) to receive their prize,” Bitdefender added.
How to Stay Safe From Christmas Scams
The best way to stay safe from scam emails this holiday season is to exercise good cyber hygiene.
It is crucial to treat promotional emails with suspicion. Always try to verify whether an email has come from an authentic website, and do not click on links or any other part of the email unless you are certain of its legitimacy. Furthermore, never share your personal data in unsolicited correspondence.
Many scammers will attempt to create a false sense of urgency to get their targets to click on dangerous links. This involves themes such as undelivered packages or warnings about a large impending payment. Remember to stay calm, log in to your account (if you have one), and look into the matter. Do not use the embedded links in the email.
Malicious actors may also set up e-commerce websites to snare victims by promising deals that are too good to be true. So, avoid unfamiliar or suspicious e-commerce or online shopping sites during the holidays.
We recommend getting a solid antivirus that actively scans your email inbox for suspicious messages. Bitdefender offers real-time protection with Bitdefender Shield and Antispam. To learn more about this antivirus, check out our complete Bitdefender review.
