The True Cost of Black Friday Deals Could Be Your Privacy

The best cyber deals may ultimately be cyber dangers in disguise. Black Friday and Cyber Monday promise incredible prices. Yet, lurking under the allure of great value is a much higher potential cost: the erosion of privacy and exploitation of personal data.

The hazards of “deal season” are more significant than an increase in annoying spam calls and emails. Fraudsters and cybercriminals use the world’s biggest commerce event to target victims via emails, texts, and social media, leading to an overall 22% increase in fraud during Black Friday compared to the rest of the year.

Cyberattacks against companies also spike during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Even when users do everything they can to safeguard their information, data breaches can expose their personal data without their knowledge. Unethical brands may even sell this personal information to data brokers for marketing or unknown purposes.

There are online privacy solutions that can help you take control of your personal information, protect you from scams, and limit the amount of spam calls and emails you receive.

A privacy solution like Incogni manages data removals for you. By regularly removing your personal information from data brokers and marketing databases, you’ll have peace of mind that your data is not only removed from the internet but also kept from reappearing. When you sign up with a data removal service, your customer data is protected under GDPR laws and regulations.

The hidden price tag of Cyber Monday convenience

The ease of making purchases with a single click or tap on a phone is also a super-convenient way for bad actors to scam users out of their personally identifiable information (PII) or money.

On Cyber Monday, consumers are more eager to access deals, not realizing they’re sharing more of their personal and financial data—often with brands they don’t shop with regularly, increasing the risk of falling victim to scams.

The largest data broker breaches in the last two decades account for 207.6 million American records being exposed in the US. This data can reveal personal preferences, browsing history, names, financial details, phone numbers, email, and location.

Protect personal data beyond the Black Friday frenzy

Here are the best tactics to score deals without fear of your wallet or personal details being used against you this season.

Be vigilant when it comes to these phishing attempts

Starting with the Black Friday season, phishing and scam attempts become more prevalent. Be cautious of emails, texts, or social media messages that ask for personal information, especially if they seem suspicious or urgent. These scam messages can appear genuine, often copying design elements of popular brands like Apple to manipulate you into letting your guard down. Common Black Friday and Cyber Monday scams include:

• “Your order didn’t go through”
  No legitimate delivery service will ever ask for more personal information. Never click on a link that takes you to a page that requests your personal or financial information.
• Fake delivery notifications
  Scam parcel messages often claim that there’s a problem with delivery and that you need to click on a link to update your delivery or payment preferences. These are bogus messages and should not be clicked. Instead, check the official delivery parcel tracking site or call the official phone number to check your order.
• Gift cards used as a payment method
  Any message requesting payment via gift card is almost certainly a scam. It’s best to avoid opening, responding to, or clicking on these types of messages.

Recognize deals that are “too good to be true”

Sweepstakes, the promise of “free” items, and unrealistically low prices can all be used to target shoppers for their personal information. Bad actors selling or trading mailing lists often use tactics like these, for instance. Sometimes popular items will be advertised at jaw-droppingly good prices only for them to show up as out-of-stock after the shopper has handed over much of their personal information.

Sign up for a personal data removal service for constant prevention

Easily accessible, personally identifiable information is low-hanging fruit for cybercriminals. Removing personal data from the internet is the best way to reduce spam and thwart scam attempts significantly.

There are a number of data removal services like Incogni, DeleteMe, and DataSeal that can help safeguard your personal information. By protecting your personal data, you can reduce the number of spam calls and spam emails you receive.

Create a separate email just for signups

Hiding your personal information via disposable email addresses while shopping ensures that you leave no traces of your actual email after making a purchase. Having received an order confirmation, disable the email so that no further communication ceases.