PS5 scams targeting shoppers — what to look out for

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

With the PS5 sold out pretty much everywhere, and with the console selling for obscene amounts on eBay, would-be buyers may exist getting a fiddling desperate.

Scammers know this, and according to new inquiry from security behemothic Kaspersky, they're already taking full advantage. The visitor says it detected around 130 suspicious websites mentioning the give-and-take "PlayStation" in October alone, and that's quickly ramping upward – it's most half the number of instances that Kaspersky had spotted for the residuum of the year combined.

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Scams were spread effectually the world, with no specific regions our countries being targeted, the researchers noted. For the most part, suspicious sites invited visitors to pre-social club the PS5 via a prepayment, or past leaving personal information which would and then be directly abused or sold on to other criminals.

Other PS5 scams were more obvious: any website offering to undercut the official RRP of a console that's out of stock everywhere is simply not credible. Others, meanwhile, were a flake more sneaky: rather than claiming to take PS5 stock, the scam websites would purport to be shipping PS4s at low prices, in a bid to make room for the new console.

But suffice it to say, whichever version of the scam is presented, the results are the same: your data and/or coin volition be stolen, and you'll be no closer to having a PS5 underneath your Tv.

"We would like to remind users that if something on the internet looks too good to exist true, then information technology is probably a scam," said Kaspersky'south security expert Tatyana Sidorina.

"Messages about sales and pre-orders should exist checked on reliable sources and we advise confronting clicking on links from suspicious emails or messages on messengers and social networks. Information technology is as well recommended to install a security solution with upwards-to-date databases of phishing and spam resources."

While Kaspsersky made no specific reference to the Xbox Serial X beingness targeted in a like style, information technology stands to reason that criminals volition be trying their aim there, as well. As with the PS5, trying to pre-order an Xbox Series X has been a frustrating experience for would-be early on adopters.

If you're even so looking for that elusive console, nosotros're here to assistance. Nosotros're keeping runway of where to purchase the PS5 and where to by the Xbox Series X safely, and then be sure to bookmark those pages if you're in the hunt.

Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, roofing phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are establish all over the web and in the occasional magazine as well. When not weighing upward the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more than likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth fourth dimension.