Cybercriminals and online shopping

We have all, at some point, received an email from a foreign prince who wants to make us millionaires but who, inexplicably, needs a transfer from us beforehand to get it. Or we have heard the story of someone who, after sending money to his or her partner online to finally meet physically, was left without a partner and without money.

Although we have learned enough about how the Internet works and the bait cybercriminals use to gain access to our accounts, we do not know them all, nor are they all as obvious as we think. 

Moreover, cybercriminals have learned that where they can get the real money is from companies, which tend to have larger accounts than individuals.

Businesses targeted by cybercriminals

We were warned in this article in May: cybercrime has grown in the wake of the pandemic and is expected to grow by 100% in Spain by the end of the year.

Experts point out that cybercriminals are not only targeting individuals: they have set their sights on large corporations and SMEs. In fact, a large proportion of these cyber attacks are aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises.

Therefore, on the road to the digitalisation of companies, we must surround ourselves with cybersecurity experts and have tools that bring security to our company and confidence to our customers.

The increase in online sales and also in cybercrime

In the wake of the forced digitisation caused by the pandemic, there has been an increase in phishing scams, the method of obtaining sensitive information such as credit card information.

One of the tasks we must undertake in the digitalisation of our processes is also to train our company's employees in online security measures. These trainings give users the tools to identify situations that put our company at risk.

Identity fraud, the weak point of online transactions (except in B2B Safe)

Of all the types of cybercrime we have, identity fraud is the most common and the easiest to fall into.

In identity fraud, the criminal impersonates an individual or company, either from a fraudulent website, from a Marketplace such as those mentioned above, or by sending us emails and messages.

In this sense, it is not necessary to use social engineering to obtain sensitive information from the victim: just by being caught a little distracted or doing a thousand things at once, we can click on a link without realising that it is fraudulent.

At B2B Safe we check the identity of suppliers and buyers to prevent this type of fraud, and we use technologies such as biometric authentication to increase our security.

Not yet signed up to B2B Safe? It's free, and we don't charge sales commissions so that the price is what it should be.