As the retail season really gets into full swing, we explore how scammers exploit what has become known as Black Friday and other scam news.
Black Friday
Black Friday is the name usually given to refer to the Friday after Thanksgiving, a day when retailers in the US have traditionally kicked off the holiday shopping season with heavily discounted goods. It has been argued that, “the term gradually became popular in the 1980s to refer to this critically important day in the retail industry. Black Friday is routinely the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States in terms of number of shoppers, though not necessarily the biggest in terms of sales volume”.
Although Black Friday is an American tradition it has been noted that it has become part of British life as well, being widely adopted by many shops in the UK, and online as well. It was in the 2010s that several American-owned retailers, like Argos, Asda and Amazon, began to offer Black Friday discounts here in the UK.
Spotting Black Friday scams
Unfortunately, as Black Friday has become established here in the UK, it has been exploited by scammers who try to take advantage of the phenomenon.
Which? has issued advice on how to spot scams during Black Friday and highlighting the main ways scammers take advantage of this event.
Fake adverts
Scammers like to impersonate big brands to sell non-existent items on social media any time of year. However, you are likely to see more of it around the festive shopping season. These may include AI-generated and deepfake videos which look like they contain celebrity endorsements.
Phishing emails
In the run-up to Black Friday, unexpected emails impersonating retailers often do the rounds. These messages often claim to be giveaways by popular stores, providing links to dodgy websites where you can be in with the chance of winning an item if you complete a survey. The scammers are trying to steal your financial and personal information so that they can scam you immediately or later on.
Dodgy texts
Another tactic used by scammers is to use out-of-the-blue texts, including scam delivery texts which promote Black Friday offers. It is advised that “click links should be avoided. Instead, double-check and verify the offer by visiting the official website of the brand associated with it. Scam texts may spread malware through links in the messages, so you should always avoid clicking on these”.
Scam websites
Scammers are able to create a convincing scam website in very little time, but there are a few red flags that can give them away:
- The website’s address isn’t the brand or company’s official website
- The offers sounds too good to be true
- The use of poor grammar and spelling
- No terms and conditions, privacy policy or contact information
- Looking at multiple review platforms reveals negative reviews or similarly written positive reviews, which may be fake
What you can do
Dodgy websites can be reported to the National Cyber Security Centre found here.
Call your bank immediately, if you lose money to a scam, using the number on the back of your bank card and report it to Action Fraud, or call the police on 101 if you’re in Scotland.
How to hide personal information from Google searches
It can be unsettling, if you discover that your home address or phone number is visible in Google search results. Fortunately, there are ways to reduce your online exposure and take back control.
You will be able to spot where your personal information appears online by setting up Google’s Results About You tool. Then you can take steps to remove anything you don’t want shared publicly.
You can find out about this tool here.
Protecting yourself from phishing texts
Phishing is said to be “a way cybercriminals trick you into giving them personal information. They send you fraudulent emails or text messages often pretending to be from large organisations you know or trust. They may try to steal your online banking logins, credit card details or passwords. Phishing can result in the loss of information, money or identity theft”.
Which? has advice about how you can avoid phishing texts and warn that just because you get a new laptop or other device on Black Friday it will not automatically be able to protect you from phishing texts.
Which? has also tested various anti-virus software and their recommendations can be found here.
Additionally, Which? has advised that Mac anti-virus software did well in their test and you can learn more about it here.
Scam Sharer tool
For information on how to share scam warnings and help protect others, see Which?’s Scam Sharer tool.
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