Australian consumers are set to fork out a whopping $1.3 billion online over the four days from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, amidst a growing trend of consumers moving their Christmas shopping to the earlier period of late-November than the traditional time of December.

Australia’s online retailers are susceptible to cybercriminals spoofing their brand identity and increasing the risk of email fraud for customers, according to a new report.

More than $4 million has been lost to online shopping scams by Australians in 2019 so far - well in excess of the $3.8 million fleeced from unsuspecting consumers last year - and the losses are expected to mount over the busy Christmas shopping period.