Leisure travelers must remain alert vs scams, reminds cybersecurity firm

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MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos have been warned against proliferating scams that can lead to identity theft and to remain alert even when they travel for leisure during the Holy Week break, according to a cybersecurity firm.

In an advisory on Monday, Kaspersky said that travelers should not “let their guard down completely” even while they are unwinding, as scammers are always around the corner with their digital attacks.

It added that one must always check that a public internet connection is secure before entering any personal information on a website.

“Always check the address bar to make sure you are actually on the website you are supposed to be on,” Kaspersky said.

When buying tickets and booking hotel rooms, travelers were reminded to only do so via official digital platforms.

Kaspersky also reminded the public to be skeptical of too-good-to-be-true offers, which usually include fake hotel and airline promos.

On the other hand, accidentally giving out pieces of personal information by inputting them into fake websites can lead to identity theft.

72K daily digital threats

“This stolen data can be used to open new bank accounts, take over existing ones, or impersonate the victim for criminal activities,” the firm noted.

With a successful account takeover, hackers can siphon out money and transfer the amount to their own accounts.

Kaspersky recently reported that the Philippines dealt with approximately one digital threat per second, or nearly 72,000 per day, last year, proving the persistence of cybercriminals. In total, the company blocked over 26.16 million web attacks in the country in 2023.

While many attacks are launched online, cybercriminals are also directly targeting devices offline—or what is referred to as a local infection. Filipinos were threatened by 22.73 million offline attacks last year, Kaspersky said.

Examples include cyberattacks launched via thumb drives and other removable devices like CDs (compact discs) and DVDs (digital versatile discs). Earlier, Kaspersky reported that one in three Filipinos were targeted by local threats last year. INQ