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David Emm, Principal Security Researcher at Kaspersky: “In today’s digital age, online fraud is a very real threat. Whilst web skimming isn’t new, the findings reported by National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) this week are worrying, since it has recently uncovered more than 4,000 incidents in which business websites have been unknowingly leaking customers’ financial information to hackers. We would urge consumers to stick to sites with a good reputation. They should also keep a close check on their bank accounts; and report anything suspicious to their bank immediately. Online businesses also have a responsibility to safeguard their customers; and should ensure that the software they use to process payments is up-to-date.

“Whilst, web skimming is becoming a popular practice used by attackers to steal users’ credit card details, it is not the only method used by cybercriminals to defraud businesses and consumers. We have found that the growth of phishing attacks mimicking e-payment pages has increased significantly. In fact, the total number of financial phishing attacks disguised as e-payment systems more than doubled from September (627,560) to October 2021 (1,935,905), indicating a 208% increase. Of course, every new payment application is seen by scammers as a new opportunity to potentially exploit consumers. Therefore, we’d recommend that consumers do not open attachments or click on links in emails from banks, e-payment apps, or shopping portals. Instead, it is better to go to the official website directly and log in to your account from there.”