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Carl Wearn, Head of Threat Intelligence Analysis and Future Ops at Mimecast: “This is another example of just how widespread fraud and scams have become in the UK. At Mimecast, our recent Brand Trust survey found that consumers receive phishing emails (80%) or land on spoof websites (55%) on a weekly basis. This means that consumers are being put at risk by malicious actors impersonating the brands they trust. As Black Friday and the Christmas holidays approach, people must be more aware of the sophisticated scams that cybercriminals will deploy to steal their details. Impersonation and spoofing are just another way criminals steal valuable information or money. As AI voice cloning technology becomes more powerful and readily available, we will see an increase in impersonation attacks that utilise audio deepfakes that will be used in combination with compromised email and collaboration accounts.

Consumers must ensure they are following best cyber-hygiene practises to remain safe online during this busy period. It is important to take your time and ensure that all correspondence is genuine before interacting with it. If something seems too good to be true, then it probably is. As we can see with this specific scam, there can be serious financial consequences for falling for campaigns.”