Grey Saturday: the safest shopping day of the Black Friday weekend

What is the safest day to shop online during the sales season? That’s a question many a budget hunter should be asking over the Black Friday weekend.

Cybersecurity company Kaspersky believes that it has the answer.

Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, there’s a lesser known shopping day dubbed Grey Saturday. And yes, it’s name isn’t quite as catchy. It does however hold one particular distinction.

According to Kaspersky’s data, Grey Saturday is the safest day to shop online during the Black Friday weekend.

The company recorded a dip in reported phishing attacks through 2015 and 2016 when compared to the likes of Cyber Monday (which incidentally, saw the largest spike) and Black Friday itself.

These phishing attacks “lure consumers through weblinks, banners, social media and more, persuading them to part with their personal financial data in the belief they are dealing with a reputable, known brand,” Kaspersky explains.

Attackers also adopt sneaky strategies of mimicking popular retail outlets, banks and payment solutions to trick users.

“On Grey Saturday the number of attacks drop significantly. Weekends generally see lower numbers of attacks and fewer people online – but on this big shopping day that’s an extra advantage,” revealed Nadezhda Demidova, lead web-content analyst as Kaspersky.

“We expect this trend from 2016 to continue in 2017, so if you plan on shopping online these holidays, choose the day wisely.”

Black Friday and Grey Saturday this year fall on 24 and 25 November respectively.

Feature image: Yandle via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0, flipped and resized)