Even cyber criminals offer discounts, lifetime warranty: Kaspersky

We are all very familiar with ‘season end’ sales of retailers like Flipkart and Amazon, Paytm and other offline stores who are pretty generous with discounts. But if Kaspersky is to believed, even cyber criminals who prey on your digital information like banking and social media account details offer steep discounts to their buyers.

“The company’s researchers found that criminals can sell someone’s complete digital life for less than $50; including data from stolen social media accounts, banking details, remote access to servers or desktops, and even data from popular services like Uber, Netflix, and Spotify, as well as gaming websites, dating apps, and porn websites which might store credit card information. Meanwhile, researchers found that the price paid for a single hacked account is lower, with most selling for about $1 per account, and with criminals offering up discounts for bulk-buying,” the Kaspersky report said.

It added: “Interestingly, some criminals selling data even provide their buyers with a lifetime warranty, so if one account stops working, the buyer will receive a new account for free.”

In the report, Kaspersky has warned that people should stop using the same password for different accounts.

“To stay safe from phishing, always check that the link address and the sender’s email are genuine before clicking anything. A robust security solution will also warn you if you attempt to visit a phishing web page,” it added.