Those on the lookout for love online should take heed – Over a quarter of Valentine’s Day themed spam emails intercepted by Bitdefender’s filters between January 17 and February 08 2024, were identified as scams aimed at defrauding recipients.
These scams are designed to steal money from unsuspecting consumers. They often masquerade as harmless messages containing fake advertisements, promotions, giveaways and offers, as well as invitations to dating platforms.
Originating primarily from the United States, approximately 79% of the Valentine’s-themed spam correspondence carries the risk of financial exploitation for recipients, according to Bitdefender’s report.
Alina Bizga, a security analyst at Bitdefender, tells us that Valentine’s day themed phishing campaigns are usually aimed at people looking to purchase gifts for their special someone.
“This year is no exception, with the bulk of scam messages targeting potential online shoppers with special deals on jewelery, flowers and other themed gift ideas,” she explained.
Would be scammers often set up fake websites offering trending gift ideas at significantly reduced prices, or baiting users with the chance to win cash prizes (or vouchers) that they can use to impress their loved ones.
“It seems cybercriminals opted to target potential shoppers more so than ever this year,” Alina added. “Additionally, cybercriminals are employing more AI tech into these types of seasonal scams to make them better and improve their efficiency at luring unsuspecting individuals moreso than in the past.”
AI-generated phishing emails are emerging that include content tailored to the recipient’s interests and habits. It is also true that phishing in general is up by over 900% since the advent of AI’s such as ChatGPT.
“Phishing emails that use machine learning algorithms can be highly personalised and appear more credible to the recipients,” Alina said. “The dialect of the emails is massively improved, with near-perfect grammar and spelling.”
Despite their better appearance, AI-generated phishing emails are still about convincing the user to act quickly and provide data. The email will also very likely be unexpected, perhaps from somewhere you don’t usually shop.
The report mentions that scammers are recycling old scam campaigns and reusing email templates, with some e-mail based scams being the same recycled rubbish Bitdefender sees almost every Valentine’s Day.
So how can you stay safe?
Enhancing email security and protecting against phishing attempts during scam seasons does require a multi-layered approach.
Awareness is the first defense against phishing. Recognise the signs of phishing – such as generic greetings, too good to be true offers, unsolicited links or attachments, and requests to provide sensitive info or money.
The best way to protect your wallet and personal information is to avoid interacting with any unsolicited emails that contain such offers. Instead, surf to the website apparently offerring the deal and see whether it’s legitimate, without clicking through via the email.
Other red flags include cash giveaways and freebies that are usually linked with surveys and ask for your personal info and credit card details. No, the big supermarkets are not offerring £500 vouchers to everyone who clicks the link and likes the Facebook post.
Some of the latest scams are where Valentine’s-themed phishing emails will use QR codes.
These emails ask users to scan the QR code for a message from a loved one, a free holiday together, or something similar.
Users can protect themselves by simply looking at the URL scanned from a QR code before opening it. Check that the scanned URL is not spoofed, and look for other signs such as ‘typosquatting’ – for example ‘faecbook’.
Stay safe, and make sure the only meal you’re paying for is the one you and your loved one are enjoying this Valentine’s day!
