How to Stay Safe From Scams this Black Friday

Posted on Nov 13, 2025

Christmas is just around the corner, and many of us are excited about finding bargains on Black Friday. With inboxes filling up with tempting offers, it can be hard to separate genuine deals from clever scams. Unfortunately, this is exactly what fraudsters are counting on.

Why the Risk Is Rising

Black Friday falls on 28th November this year, but scammers start early. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) warns that the weeks leading up to the big day are when criminals ramp up their efforts.

Cybersecurity specialists at Darktrace report a sharp rise in malicious emails mentioning Black Friday, peaking at the end of October, so it’s so important to be careful where you click!

Tools for Humanity – “With AI, fraudsters can now create entire deceptive small-business identities, complete with faces, stories and photo-perfect shops.”

And with today’s advances in artificial intelligence, scammers can now build convincing fake websites, craft professional-looking emails, and even create entirely fake small businesses within minutes.

How to Spot a Scam

• Price that look too good to be true – Consumer group Which? warns that huge discounts that don’t match any other retailer are a clear warning sign. Does it look too good to be true? It probably is!
• Poor quality websites – Fake websites may be missing a privacy policy, an “About us” page, or a physical address. They are often quickly thrown together.
• Unusual payment methods – Legitimate and well-known retailers typically stick to trusted payment methods directly through the retailer. If you see payment methods like bank transfers, cryptocurrency or money sent through friends-and-family payment routes, be careful. These methods are criminal’s methods of scamming you out of your money. Bank transfers in particular are a favourite of organised crime groups because the money is harder to recover.
• Altered email or web addresses – Scammers often register look-alike URLs. For example: J0hnLewis using a zero instead of an “o.” When you’re rushing to bag a bargain, it’s easy to miss.
• Pressure and urgency to by quickly – Only 2 left! Offer expires in 5 minutes! Sound familiar? Fake sites often try to panic you into buying. This is a classic tactic used to stop you from thinking things through. If you’re being pressured into buying something quickly, stop, and take 5 to make sure you’re happy to go ahead.

Protect Yourself

• Stop and think –
  STOP – Taking a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information could keep you safe.
  CHALLENGE – Could it be fake? It’s ok to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.
  PROTECT – Contact your bank immediately if you think you’ve fallen for a scam and report it to Action Fraud.
  
  Criminals are experts at impersonating people, organisations and the police. They spend hours researching you for their scams, hoping you’ll let your guard down for just a moment. Stop and think. It could protect you and your money.

• Use a credit card if possible – Credit card purchases often have extra protection under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Bank transfers do not offer the same protection.
• Report suspicious messages – Help others stay safe by reporting scam attempts to report@phishing.gov.uk (NCSC’s Suspicious Email Reporting Service)
• I’ve you’ve been scammed – Contact Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud reporting centre, as soon as possible.