Security experts have advised consumers to be cautious when shopping online on Black Friday.
Managing director of IT security services firm ESET Southern Africa, Kerry van Flanderen, says that while the promise of a good deal is attractive to consumers, cybercriminals are also taking advantage of unsuspecting shoppers.
Van Flanderen urged bargain hunters to be vigilant
Van Flaanderen says: “The best ones we see are phishing emails, WhatsApp and social media, and what we call tickets to nowhere, when you actually pay your money and of course when you go to game or for tickets. , it is invalid. If possible, never click on a link in an email, as it is often a malicious link that takes you to a malicious site.”
“Similarly, in WhatsApp scams, they embed a link either in a WhatsApp chat or in a group, and finally there are social media scams. Again, these guys are offering an amazing deal that is actually fake and you get absolutely nothing in return.”
Consumers face higher debt payments after another rate hike:
Meanwhile, consumers are also being warned to tighten their belts further as the Reserve Bank hikes rates by up to 75 basis points.
The Reserve Bank also lowered expectations for the country’s economic growth this year from 1.9% to 1.8%.
Reserve Bank Governor Lesethja Kganyaga says growth in the fourth quarter is also expected to moderate mainly due to the effects of the Eskom blackout.
The decision of the Reserve Bank to increase the interest rate by 75 basis points: Gulam Balim
The decision of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee set the repo rate at 7 percent, and the primary lending rate at 10.5 percent.
Kganyaga says the MPC considered a number of factors to reach its conclusion.
“The forecast takes into account the decrease in commodity prices, the growth of inflation and interest rates. On the supply side, the forecast includes an assumption of increased intermittent power outages, which could subtract 0.6% of GDP in 2023. As a result of these projections, the economy is projected to expand by 1.1% in 2023.”
