Israel Warns of AI-Fueled Online Shopping Scams During Sales Season
Translated & summarized from Arutz Sheva by baba
Israel's National Cyber Directorate reported a 41% rise in online scams and phishing during the November sales season, driven by AI's ability to quickly create fake websites. Ohad Meshulam, Head of Defense, advised consumers to avoid clicking links in messages and to use trusted payment services. He also recommended manually entering website addresses and enabling two-factor authentication to mitigate risks.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Israel's National Cyber Directorate noted a 41% increase in online scams during the November sales season.
- Artificial intelligence enables criminals to create fake shopping websites in minutes.
- Consumers are warned that fake sites can be indistinguishable from real ones.
- Avoid clicking links in messages; manually type website addresses instead.
- Use trusted payment services like PayPal, Google Pay, or Apple Pay.
- Enable two-factor authentication on personal accounts for added security.
Israel's National Cyber Directorate is reporting a 41% surge in online scams and phishing attempts during the November sales season, which includes events like Singles' Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. This increase is largely attributed to the use of artificial intelligence, which allows criminals to create fake shopping websites in mere minutes, requiring no advanced technical knowledge.
Ohad Meshulam, Head of Defense at the National Cyber Directorate, stated in an interview that the directorate handled nearly 90,000 phishing campaigns and citizen complaints about fraud this past year. He explained that AI has significantly enhanced cybercriminals' ability to produce fake sites, reducing the creation time from approximately 16 hours to just five minutes. "Today you don't need to be technically proficient. You can just ask the chat to build it for you, and it will simply build you a site that functions like the real site," Meshulam said.
Meshulam cautioned that it has become nearly impossible for consumers to distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent websites based on appearance alone. Despite this, the directorate is not advising against online shopping but rather urging consumers to adopt safety measures. Key recommendations include avoiding clicking on links received in messages, even from known contacts, as these can be part of a chain of distribution. Instead, users should manually type website addresses into their browser or use search engines to find legitimate sites.
Further advice focuses on payment security. Meshulam warned against directly entering credit card details on shopping sites, recommending the use of trusted third-party payment services like PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. If direct entry is necessary, he advised against allowing sites to save credit card information for future use. Additionally, enabling two-factor authentication on all personal accounts, including WhatsApp and Facebook, is strongly encouraged to add an extra layer of security.
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