As Black Friday and Cyber Monday are expected to kick off an explosion in online shopping ahead of Christmas, with consumers expected to spend £8bn on deals, too many Welsh shoppers are still not protecting themselves online.

As a result, 17% of online shoppers in Wales are losing money due to a combination of internet scams, weak passwords and misplaced trust in websites.

New research from Sophos by Atomik Research shows Welsh consumers remain at risk of online cyber-attacks as they make some basic security mistakes:

Nearly two-thirds (63%) of survey respondents don’t choose a different password for each online account, which makes them easier to attack one step ahead of cyber criminals.
22% admit to using family members’ birthdays and pet names as passwords despite warnings that such information is readily accessible online – giving hackers vital clues to access data.
One in ten (13%) save their passwords on shared computers, rather than use an ‘on demand’ password manager

Half (50%) of those surveyed who had been victims of fraud say they have had money taken from their bank accounts without permission, 19% have had their credit card cloned and 31% have had their debit card cloned.

Half (51%) online shoppers say they have clicked on an apparently genuine email link that turned out to be fake and a quarter 18% say they have fallen victim to a phishing scam – where cyber criminals trick their victims into handing over user names, passwords and credit card details.

Adam Bradley, UK&I Country Manager at Sophos said:

“The proliferation of online shopping over the past few years means it has become increasingly easy for cyber criminals to harvest data and personal information about consumers. Everyone loves a bargain, especially in the run up to Christmas, but Brits online need to make it harder for fraudsters by taking a few, simple online security steps.”

Sophos recommends taking the following online precautions before hunting for bargains over Black Friday and Cyber Monday:

Use a web filter – Web filters, like the one included in Sophos Home, stop you from browsing to websites that are known to be used for scams, phishing or spreading malware.
Use a password manager – Password managers create, remember and enter passwords for you, and they won’t enter your password into a phishing site, no matter how convincing it looks.
If it looks too good to be true, it is. Scams make wild claims and use familiar brands or friends and family to make them seem trustworthy. Stay alert – if something seems off, it probably is.
Check your bank statements regularly. You can reduce the chance that you’ll become the victim of a scam but you can’t eliminate it, so make a habit of checking how your money’s spent.