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British consumers expect brands to pay up for online scams, study finds

October 2021 by Mimecast

The uptick in cybercrimes and online scams because of the pandemic has led to much debate about who should be responsible for compensating victims. New research from cybersecurity specialist Mimecast, finds that many British consumers believe that brands themselves should take responsibility for these scams, and compensate their affected customers. The survey, which questioned 1,003 adults in the UK, found that 43% said brands refusing to compensate customers whose data or money has been lost due to a cybersecurity issue would damage their perception of that brand, whilst 39% said a brand not taking responsibility for potential customers being deceived would put them off the brand.

The research finds that 86% of respondents expect their favourite brands to ensure their services are safe to use, with similar expectations for brands they use regularly (85%) and brands they are familiar with (85%). 73% said it’s the brand’s responsibility to protect itself from fake versions of its website and 62% said it’s the brand’s responsibility to protect itself from email impersonation. If brands fail to protect consumers, they are not afraid to vote with their wallets. 65% of UK consumers would stop spending money with their favourite brand if they fell victim to a phishing attack involving that brand.

There is also no doubt that these scams are on the rise, with many consumers experiencing them on a weekly basis. Almost half (45%) of consumers receive a phishing email at least once a week, with 19% getting one every single day. On top of this, 18% admit to landing on a spoofed website from a search engine at least once a week, whilst 17% do the same from a social media site.
And despite their unforgiving approach to brands, many consumers admit that they don’t hesitate to open an email from their favourite brands, providing attackers with a chance to trick consumers through the brands they trust. Almost half of respondents (47%) said they wouldn’t hesitate at all to open an email from a brand they regularly use, whilst 37% of consumers don’t hesitate to click on links in emails from their favourite brands.

Rory Innes, CEO and founder of The Cyber Helpline, a volunteer organisation helping people in the UK with cyber safety issues, said: “At The Cyber Helpline, we help individuals who have been a victim of cyber crime. As a result of the pandemic, we have seen a major uptick in victims of these scams reaching out for our help and since March 2020, we have experienced a 362% in cases. It is clear that cybercriminals have moved online and are looking to take advantage of consumers getting to grips with navigating the digital world. This research shows that brands must be doing more to keep their customers safe online because consumers ultimately hold them responsible.”

Carl Wearn, head of e-crime at Mimecast, said: “Cybercriminals are increasingly taking advantage of the trust consumers place in brands and leveraging this in their attacks. We witnessed this happening more frequently when the nation was in lockdown, and people’s everyday lives moved online. As this research highlights, the use of phishing and brand impersonation attacks continue to rise. It is also clear that brands need to take action to prevent their brand being used by cybercriminals, or risk losing customers.

One way brands can seek to protect themselves and reduce the likelihood of such attacks is through the use of Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC). This technology allows brands with an online presence to detect and reject any unauthorised sender who attempts to use a brand’s email domain. However, it should be noted that using DMARC alone may not be 100% effective since the range of threats retailers face online are broad and varied. This technology should therefore be used by organisations in tandem with other available cybersecurity tools to provide more comprehensive, layered protection.”

Mimecast: Relentless protection. Resilient world.™

Mimecast (NASDAQ: MIME) was born in 2003 with a focus on delivering relentless protection. Each day, we take on cyber disruption for our tens of thousands of customers around the globe; always putting them first, and never giving up on tackling their biggest security challenges together. We are the company that built an intentional and scalable design ideology that solves the number one cyberattack vector – email. We continuously invest to thoughtfully integrate brand protection, security awareness training, web security, compliance and other essential capabilities. Mimecast is here to help protect large and small organizations from malicious activity, human error and technology failure; and to lead the movement toward building a more resilient world. Learn more about us at www.mimecast.com.

The Cyber Helpline: Supporting victims of cybercrime

The Cyber Helpline is a movement by the information security community to step up and fill the gap in support for victims. It provides a free, confidential helpline for individuals and sole traders who have been a victim of cyber crime or online malicious behaviour and helps victims understand, contain, recover and learn from cyber attacks.


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