Black Friday is the best time of year for scammers

There are thousands of legitimate bargains, huge savings promoted with the need to be quick or miss out.

The fourth Friday of November and a few days later Cyber Monday are the peak time for online scams. It’s the perfect camouflage!

 

Simple Steps to avoid being scammed

 

1 Check and double check the website identity.

There are scam websites that look almost identical to the bona fide website. They may even have the padlock symbol in the domain address.

Firstly, check the URL – sometimes it is easy to spot a fake website because the URL is clearly not correct. However, scammers are clever – they can have a URL which looks like it could be legitimate. Copy the complete URL address and paste into the search bar of another tab on your browser – then check the URL again.

 

2 Who owns the website domain?

Google has a great free tool, enter the URL to check the status of the site https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search.

 

3 Check the social media links on the website.

Click on the website’s social media links. Click the Facebook icon – does it take you to the legitimate retailer’s Facebook page. This test is not always 100% – scammers can be highly sophisticated – it is an effective quick and easy test.

 

4 Avoid buying from sites and sellers you have never heard of!

Research sites and sellers, read reviews, check to see how they can be contacted – do they have a contact address?

 

5 Stop and ask yourself – how has the offer been brought to my attention?

Social media is the scammers friend. It is easy for scammers to post scams online. Email scams are usually spotted (but not always) by spam filters. When you see social media offers from companies that you have previously bought from – don’t assume they are legitimate.

 

This is not a complete list of ways to avoid being scammed, it is 5 simple checks you should make before buying online.

So, don’t let yourself be rushed into making Black Friday/Cyber Monday purchases.