Kaspersky has warned Filipinos to be on alert for online scams as digital shopping and cashless payments increase during the holiday season in the Philippines.
The cybersecurity company said the surge in online sales, money transfers, and gaming activity toward the end of the year creates more opportunities for cybercriminals to target users. Adrian Hia, managing director for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky, said the holidays are a peak period for online activity, making users more vulnerable to scams that steal personal data, financial information, and account details. He added that scammers take advantage of rushed shopping and transactions, which can lead people to lower their guard.
Based on Kaspersky’s latest threat intelligence, cybercriminals continue to exploit seasonal shopping trends worldwide. From January to October 2025, the company blocked more than 6.4 million phishing attempts that pretended to be online stores, banks, or payment services. Nearly half of these attacks specifically targeted online shoppers.
Kaspersky said these threats are especially relevant to the Philippines, where online shopping and digital payments usually rise during the holidays. The most common scams affecting Filipino users include phishing emails and text messages posing as delivery services, banks, or e-wallet providers; fake online shops and promo pages offering prices that are too good to be true; fraudulent payment requests sent through messaging apps while pretending to be sellers or customer support; and account takeover attempts using stolen login details.
To reduce the risk, Kaspersky advised consumers to shop only on trusted platforms, avoid clicking suspicious links, verify payment and delivery messages through official channels, and use strong passwords with added security features like multi-factor authentication. Installing reliable security software can also help block phishing and online fraud.
For businesses, the company stressed the importance of training employees to spot phishing and social engineering attacks, closely monitoring accounts for unusual activity, keeping systems updated, and using advanced security tools to quickly detect and respond to threats during the busy holiday period.
Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company that was founded in 1997.
