– We are now entering an important month for online shopping, with Black Friday, Cyber Monday and not least Christmas. Then we see that the fraudster uses slightly different methods than usual, says Tore Orderløkken, head of security at Posten Norge. The list of methods for defrauding people for money is many. – They use trust in brands or companies, says Orderløkken. – Posten has a high level of trust and is therefore easy to use. When we then also send goods to the whole of Norway, it is a great way to try to trick people into giving up information. And it becomes difficult to reveal them. They use the same font, images and layout as us. Other well-known brands and companies are also exploited in the same way. So what should you do to avoid being scammed before Christmas? TRYING TO HELP: Posten Norge has its own websites where people can learn about how to avoid fraud and what to do if they are defrauded, says Tore Ordreløkken in Posten Norge. Photo: Håvard Jørstad / Posten Have you ordered a package? If you receive an SMS or e-mail about a package that is on its way, the first question you ask should be: “Have I ordered a package from here?”. If the answer is yes, Tore Orderløkken in Posten believes that you must not be tempted to fill in forms or click on links. – If you have ordered a package, log in to the website of the relevant supplier or courier service to check the status of your shipment. In our case, it’s about tracking the package via the Posten app. Do not pay via links In many cases of fraud, you are asked to provide payment information when you click on a link. Thorbjørn Busch is a security advisor at Telenor. He too notes that the scammer changes his methods at this time of year. Have you ever been scammed? Yes. No, but I have been tempted. Fortunately, I checked a second time. No. Show result – You must never provide payment information or BankID if you receive an SMS or e-mail asking for it, says Busch. The same advice is given by the banks, for example DNB and Sparebanken. And Posten: – We never ask for this type of information through SMS or e-mails, says Tore Orderløkken. Check the web address An important element that can reveal fraudsters is the web address they use. In this SMS there is a typing error in the link. Photo: Adrian Dahl Johansen / news That should set alarm bells ringing. – If you hold the mouse pointer over the link you have received in an e-mail, the address will appear. If the address does not go to an address that would be natural for the sender in question, that is also a red flag, says Orderløkken in Posten. But it’s not just fraud via SMS and e-mail that you should watch out for now that you might be looking for a good offer for Christmas. Is the website you are going to buy from genuine? Thorbjørn Busch in Telenor says that a number of fake websites also appear in connection with the shopping months of November and December. – The fraudster plays on time pressure and stress, among other things. Maybe they suggest that these are offers you have to be quick to take advantage of, he says. When shopping online there are therefore several things you can check to make sure the website is trustworthy, according to Busch. How is the website structured? Do all the links and further navigation work? How is the language? Does the company have a physical address and contact information? What is the URL? Does it look suspicious? If you look up the company online, do you find evaluations and feedback that say they can be trusted? – The best advice is simply to breathe a little with your stomach, and spend some time examining the online store or the offer you have received, says Thorbjørn Busch. And should you bet on buying something used for Christmas, there are also a couple of precautions you must take. SPEND SOME TIME: Thorbjørn Busch in Telenor encourages you to spend some time checking out how real the good offer you are getting actually is. Photo: Telenor Don’t be tricked into paying in other ways. Tise is one of the big platforms for second-hand trade. Sigrun Stenseth in Tise says that they have noticed an increase in fraud attempts this autumn. – We hope that we can slow down this development with a series of measures that will make it more difficult for the fraudsters, says Stenseth. But there are also a number of things you can do to avoid being defrauded via such platforms. MORE ADVICE: Sigrun Stenseth in Tise has more advice for you who want to shop second-hand in a safe way. Photo: Selma Haaland / Tise – We encourage everyone to use our integrated solution for shipping and payment. Then both the shipment and the payment are handled through us, and the money is kept safe until the buyer has received and approved the item, she says. The payment solution also protects both buyer and seller should something happen. – We are clear that you should not follow any links that are shared in connection with payment, says Stenseth. – If someone asks early in the conversation to take it further in another channel outside Tise, such as Messenger, WhatsApp or SMS, this is a red flag. There is no reason why the agreement cannot be made via the Tise chat, and is often a way to avoid our security checks. She also recommends that everyone do some research to get to know the seller via chat, and check out any reviews the seller might have. – If you can’t find any information and also don’t get a good impression of the seller when you chat, it is perhaps best to move on to another seller, says Stenseth. Geir Petter Gjefsen, head of consumer safety at Finn.no, says the same. – We recommend keeping the dialogue on Finn. We see that many who are exposed to fraud are deceived as the dialogue takes place outside our systems, he says.
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New holiday season for fraud. This is how you avoid being cheated during Black Friday and when shopping for Christmas presents – news Nordland
