Expert warns of fraud risk as Boxing Day sales begin
A Portsmouth University expert is sharing his advice on how to keep safe online
A Portsmouth University cybercrime expert's warning us of the potential fraud dangers when it comes to Boxing Day sales.
Dr Vasileios Karagiannopoulos says to double check offers and website URLs, especially ads through social media.
He's telling us how we might be approached this Boxing Day.
He said: "Boxing Day sales and Christmas is an ideal period for fraudsters.
"We interact with a lot of different people for different purposes.
"We're expecting family to visit, for example, we're expecting presents and cards in the post.
"Then also with Boxing Day, we have some great offers that we would like to get.
"So the fraudsters know this and they would be very keen to send us similar messages.
"It might be great offers that we would want to get for Boxing Day, which are obviously not legitimate.
"Or they might send us messages about delivery of certain things that we've missed.
"We know fraudsters are offering a lot of travel-related offers, so bookings for flights or hotels or activities that might never materialise."
He's telling us what to do to avoid fraud.
Dr Karagiannopoulos added: ""The advice in terms of prevention is to really try to double check any kind of great offers that you might be getting.
"Perhaps something on social media as an advert, you can go to the website of the legitimate company and check if the offer exists on there, or whether a fraudster has created a very similar web page in order to trick people into thinking they're interacting with a legitimate business."
He says to check the URL of websites and ensure the name of the website is legitimate.
Dr Karagiannopoulos also encourages anyone who's experienced fraud to report it.