Hackers made fake websites to take advantage of Diwali sales

Moneycontrol Bureau

The Diwali sales wars between Flipkart and Amazon also witnessed the rise of fake surprises for the Indian consumers.

One fake site named as www.amazon.bigbillionday-offer.com – offered a chance to spin a wheel and win fitness bands, iPhones, Nike shoes, cameras, computers amongst other things.

The site also takes a jibe at Flipkart's sale brand Big Billion Day by the same name. Amazon India confirmed they were aware of such fake sites in their name and said it had nothing to do with the company.

During festive sales such as Diwali, Boxing Day or Single's Day, such fake sites lure buyers to phish information from their phones or computers. Others exist just to garner traffic to their website and earn money by ads.

When Moneycontrol tried to investigate, it found that the domain was registered by a Panama registered entity WhoisGuard, Inc in the name of Juan Carlos Mata.

During Christmas, fake sites crop up in the US and Europe, offering refunds and other schemes to buyers from Amazon, Staples and Walmart online.

China's ‘Single's Day Sale’ will probably be the next target of such sites as the country is gearing up for the sale on November 11.

As per China's state media reports, several thousand sites were discovered during last year's sale.