Black Friday E-Shoppers in Rotten Couch Potato Mood

History repeats. A look back at what Black Friday crowds were up to in the previous editions of this discount festival might help us place our bets on one or more of the following headlines:

[store] crowd fights over [coveted item of choice]

Tempers flare outside a [name your place] mall

[store] shoppers get into a fight over [gadget of the year]

[store] employee trampled to death by shoppers

Ok, that might be an exaggeration. News of this kind is all about triggering intense reactions. One of which might be that you choose to get your best deals online….though you might be forced to face some hostile virtual crowds here as well, whether it”s phishers trying to wriggle their way into your various accounts or floods of fake offers.

1, 2, 3! Gates open! Ebayâ„¢ lookalike carefully planted in shoppers” way:

 

“Check the connection! Is it SSL?” goes the little angel on my right shoulder.

“SSL? Are you kidding me? Live a little!”, fights back the big devil on my left shoulder…with a grin.

If the SSL question doesn”t cross your mind, then, you”ll simply input your user ID and your password.( By the way, you can input any kind of string, they won”t mind it….though on the real page you”d get the “enter a correct e-mail address” warning…the devil”s in the details, right?). Unsuspecting as we all are at this point, let”s just go ahead.

OOPs! Instead of entering your account, you end up in the virtual equivalent of the principal”s office:

 

You MUST have done something wrong and that”s why the nice people back in the Security and Resolution Center must get your secret question and answer. Weird as hell, so what would Al Yankovic do in this situation? Just answer it! Will do, Al! Click and:

 

Here”s a nice twist to the story. Got your confirmation AND an automatic sign out! Aren”t these people a bunch of true gentlemen? Their mothers must be really proud.

Hold on, what about our shopping? “Sign in” comes to the rescue:

 

And yes, this time we”re on the real Ebayâ„¢ page. HTTPS and all. Hmmmmm…..

It”s not over till the horizontally challenged lady says “go out and take a walk!”. Let”s then scour the glitter off some “good deals” spreading through our favorite social network:

 

 

I can hear you moaning. It hurts, doesn”t it? That after all this time and after all these warnings….these tricks still work. And work they do:

 

Hop onto the “ask-me-insanely-absurd-question-and-I,-the-mighty- Internet-,-will-answer-them-all” train. Love quizzes, IQ tests, SMS deals that will bring you the key to the universe (which, by the way, does not come with in a Hello Kitty version….)

 

Madness, I tell you, true madness!

Let”s not lose hope. Let”s instead have a merry un-Black Friday party! Here”s a tutorial on how to do it.

This article is based on the technical information provided courtesy of Tudor Florescu, BitDefender Online Threats Analyst.

All product and company names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and are the property of, and may be trademarks of, their respective owners.