Planning to buy PlayStation 5? Here is why you need to be extra careful

Sony has recently launched the PlayStation 5 in global markets to an overwhelming response. While there is no official word about the Indian release, the excitement among gaming enthusiasts is evident. Amid the announcement of the next generation of video game consoles, phishers and scammers are becoming increasingly interested in using the launch of the new PlayStation to their advantage.  

In October, Kaspersky has found about 130 suspicious resources around the world mentioning ‘PlayStation’ in their names, which is half the number of such websites detected between January and October. 

What are these sites doing? 

These sites mainly offer visitors the chance to pre-order the PlayStation 5 by making a prepayment or by leaving personal information. Some webpages even offered purchasing the console at a lower price than the official retail cost. There were also resources that stated there was a special sale price available for the previous version of console – the PlayStation 4. They attributed the discount to the release of the new PS5. 

What should you do? 

First of all, you should only trust the official website for information around PlayStation. If you come across offers through any other channel, do a quick fact check.  

“We would like to remind users that if something on the internet looks too good to be true, then it is probably a scam. Messages about sales and pre-orders should be checked on reliable sources and we advise against clicking on links from suspicious emails or messages on messengers and social networks. It is also recommended to install a security solution with up-to-date databases of phishing and spam resources,” said Kaspersky’s security expert Tatyana Sidorina. 

In the US the Sony PS5 has been priced at $499.99 for the Standard Edition and the Digital Edition has been launched at $399.99. Recently, UK-based data analytics company Ampere Analysis predicts that Sony could sell around 17.9 million units of the PS5 consoles by the end of 2021 and more than 67 million units by 2024.