Keep yourself safe this Black Friday: tips to avoid scams

Black Friday is one of the biggest online shopping days of the year, and it's also a prime time for scammers to try to take advantage of consumers.

It is estimated shoppers in the UK alone lost £10.6 million* to online scammers during last year’s Black Friday and Christmas shopping period. Cyber criminals view this time of year as an opportunity to scam people out of their money.

If you don’t want to fall foul of a Black Friday scam, make sure you follow these tips.

1. Watch out for suspicious messages
During the Black Friday deals, inboxes are flooded with a surge of emails from retailers, enticing us to part with our cash – however, this gives fraudsters a way in. One favourite trick of scammers is to send out text messages claiming to be a representative of the brand you’ve recently bought from.
If you do suspect you’ve received a fraudulent email or text, block the user and delete the message. You might also be able to report it.
2. Can you tell if an email is fake?
Unfortunately, scammers are getting more sophisticated, however, there are some tell-tale signs that the email is fake.

Mistakes: If you notice lots of spelling or grammar mistakes in the email, it’s probably not going to be genuine.

Suspect email addresses: Some scammers also ‘mask’ their email address. It may look like the email comes from an official email address, but often this hides the real details. Watch out for any misspellings or strange, unrelated email addresses. If you’re unsure, go directly to the retailer’s website instead.

False urgency: Be wary when someone tries to convince you that you must act now. Scammers love to use this tactic to persuade you to do what they want.

Asking to pay over the phone: Sometimes you may get an email from a retailer asking you to contact them and pay over the phone. Never do this. No genuine retailer will ask you to do this.

3. Only shop on secure websites
You can tell if a website is secure by looking for the padlock icon next to the URL in your browser's address bar. The lock icon indicates that the website is using an SSL certificate. When you see the lock icon, you can be sure that your connection to the website is secure.

Note: It still doesn’t mean that the website is reputable or legitimate, but it does mean the connection is.

As with emails and text messages, beware of websites with poor design or grammar errors. Legitimate businesses typically invest in professional-looking websites.
4. Don’t use the same password
Avoid using the same password for different accounts. It’s so tempting to reuse the same password for multiple accounts, but it's a risky habit. If one account is hacked, attackers could gain access to all of your accounts.

The best way to protect your accounts is to use a unique, strong password for each one.

5. Be careful about sharing your personal information
Limit the sharing of your personal information to trusted retailers, and even then, there's no need to divulge your entire life story! While there are mandatory details marked with an asterisk for purchase, you can generally omit any additional information. 
6. Don’t shop from social media
As the trend of shopping on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok gains popularity for its convenience, it also presents an increased risk of scams. Fraudsters often exploit this avenue by creating fake profiles or pages that closely resemble legitimate businesses.

And finally, educate yourself...the more you know about the current scams doing the rounds, the more you can protect yourself.

Fraud and Security

The threat from internet fraudsters is continually evolving. The best way to tackle these threats is to ensure you are always aware of them and how they work.

Phone calls, emails, letters and text messages from fraudsters can seem legitimate and convincing, so it’s important to be very careful and always keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

If you think you’ve fallen victim to a scam, if someone has taken money from your account or if you’ve accidently given your details to a fraudster, please report it immediately to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040 or online. Please also inform us as soon as possible: