Le Lézard
Classified in: Science and technology
Subjects: Photo/Multimedia, Product/Service, Survey

Cybercriminals' Holiday Traditions May Cost Consumers Hundreds of Dollars


Today McAfee, the device-to-cloud cybersecurity company, announced findings from its recent survey, A Christmas Carol: Scam Edition, revealing that nearly half (48%) of Americans have been a victim of or know someone who has been a victim of robocalling in 2019, making it the worst scam of the year and one to watch out for this Holiday season. While cybercriminal activity has grown in sophistication, scams of Christmas past are still haunting Americans today--respondents reported being targeted with email phishing (41%) and text phishing (35%). These scams along with robocalling are the top three prominent scams of the year.

Together, these scams have hit Americans hard, with McAfee survey respondents admitting that these scams took a financial toll on them in 2019, with 74% losing more than $100 and almost a third (30%) losing more than $500. And according to McAfee Advanced Threat Research (ATR), more than 2.2 billion stolen account credentials were made available on the cybercriminal underground over the course of Q1 2019. This growing trend of personal online accounts for retailers being made available on the underground, and increasingly sophisticated threats means that the 2019 Holidays could be the most dangerous yet for consumers.

"Just like your family, cybercriminals have holiday traditions and they are constantly looking for ways to take advantage of holiday shoppers," said Gary Davis, Chief Consumer Security Evangelist at McAfee. "While most consumers believe that cyber-scams become more prevalent during the holiday season, a third don't actually take any steps to change their online behavior. It is crucial that we are mindful of potential risks and take the proper steps to protect ourselves this holiday season."

As consumers use their devices and apps for everyday tasks, like holiday shopping, streaming TV shows and food delivery services, they are sharing more personal information than ever before. By targeting popular consumer apps, cybercriminals are able to collect and store key data, including home addresses, credit card information and account passwords. This adds a layer of complexity to cybersecurity that consumers didn't face years ago and adding to the potential of that information being used for malicious activity sometime in the future.

One new trend that is set to hit unsavvy consumers hard this Holiday season is phony gift cards, with McAfee's ATR team seeing phony gift cards sold on the cybercriminal underground. Yet, the survey found that not even half (43%) of respondents are aware of bogus gift cards. Consumers are also not doing their own due diligence when it comes to checking shopping websites. According to McAfee research, over one-third (37%) of respondents admit that they do not check an email sender or retailer's website for authenticity.

Tips to stay safe this holiday season:

Survey Methodology:

McAfee commissioned 3Gem to conduct a survey of 1,000 adults in the U.S. over the age of 18 between October 10-20, 2019.

About McAfee

McAfee is the device-to-cloud cybersecurity company. Inspired by the power of working together, McAfee creates business and consumer solutions that make our world a safer place. www.mcafee.com

McAfee technologies' features and benefits depend on system configuration and may require enabled hardware, software, or service activation. No computer system can be absolutely secure. McAfee® and the McAfee logo are trademarks of McAfee, LLC or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Other marks and brands may be claimed as the property of others.


These press releases may also interest you

at 06:05
AIS Healthcare, a leading provider of targeted drug delivery (TDD) and infusion care solutions, is proud to recognize March 25-31 as National Physicians Week. This week and throughout the year, we celebrate the dedication of physicians who selflessly...

at 06:02
With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on PR Newswire. To help journalists and consumers stay on top of the week's most newsworthy and popular releases, here's a recap of some major...

at 06:00
G-P (Globalization Partners), the recognized leader in the global employment market, and standard bearer for industry compliance, today announced it was awarded 50 leader badges in G2's 2024 Spring Report, including Employer of Record Leader, Global...

at 05:34
Sungrow, a global leading PV inverter and energy storage system supplier, has emerged as one of the standout companies on the 2024 Fortune Asia Future 30 list. The list, which recognizes the most promising companies in Asia Pacific, is a testament to...

at 05:30
Cato Networks, the SASE leader, announced a new SASE throughput record here at the Porsche Studio Ginza ahead of the 2024 Tokyo E-Prix, achieving 10 Gbps without hardware upgrades. At 10 Gbps, Cato became the first SASE platform to compete not only...

at 05:20
Roborock, a global leader in ultra-intelligent home robotics engineered to simplify daily life, today announced it has taken the number one spot for robotic vacuum sales worldwide, according to new data by Euromonitor. Celebrating its achievements at...



News published on and distributed by: