More than 400 financial scams are blocked per hour in Brazil, points out PSafe

With the proximity of Black Friday, and Christmas, the guideline for those who want to shop online is to be increasingly careful to avoid falling into financial scams. This is because a survey by PSafe, a company specializing in cybersecurity, shows that more than 150 million Brazilians were victims of virtual fraud in 2021.

The number should also register an increase in the last months of the year with the approach of the commemorative dates in the country, according to specialists.

“The upcoming important dates in the economy raise an alert for customers and businesses. The volume of scams is very large in Brazil. From financial scams alone, security companies managed to block 3.4 million attempts.

The number represents an average of 11 thousand scams per day and 400 per hour”, highlights an excerpt from PSafe’s research.

To prevent scams from happening, companies specializing in cybersecurity have given tips on how customers can avoid fraud during online purchases on upcoming commemorative dates:

• Always have a security solution installed on your device;
• Avoid clicking on links from unknown sources, especially those shared via messaging apps and social media;
• Make it a habit to doubt the information shared on the internet and never inform sensitive data in links of doubtful origin;
• Always try to confirm the veracity of information on the companies’ official pages and websites;

most common scams

Criminals tend to act mainly through SMS, email and social networks. Among the strategies used by scammers are: supposed unlocking of the bank card, request to update the password, false offer to upgrade the account and benefits in transactions, always using the name of large institutions, or requesting an alleged update of the bank’s app on -line, which installs a fake application.

Other risks for individuals are criminals hacking into digital bank accounts, where they take the victim’s credentials and can pay bills, bills, make loans and transfers.