Black Friday & Cyber Monday Scams: How to Shop Safely
Online spending on Black Friday 2025 hit $10.8 billion in the US alone. Scammers captured an estimated $309 million of that through fake storefronts, phishing emails, and counterfeit deal sites. The frenzy of limited-time offers, countdown timers, and "only 3 left!" warnings creates the perfect psychological conditions for fraud: urgency, excitement, and the fear of missing out.
Fake Online Stores
In the weeks leading up to Black Friday, thousands of fake e-commerce sites appear. They mimic legitimate retailers or create new "brands" with professional-looking websites. Products are listed at 60-90% off retail. The site accepts your payment and either ships nothing, ships a cheap counterfeit, or harvests your credit card for future fraud.
These sites are often promoted through:
- Facebook and Instagram ads (Meta's ad approval process catches many but not all)
- Google Shopping ads
- Sponsored posts on TikTok
- Email blasts from purchased mailing lists
- Fake deal aggregator sites
How to spot them: Check the domain registration date (whois lookup — sites created in the past few months are suspicious). Look for contact information beyond just an email form. Search "[site name] reviews" or "[site name] scam" before buying. Check for HTTPS (though scam sites now use HTTPS too — it's necessary but not sufficient).
Phishing Emails and Texts
Your inbox fills with "deal alerts" during Black Friday season. Some are from retailers you actually shop with. Many are phishing attempts using familiar brand names:
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"Amazon Black Friday Early Access: Your exclusive 80% off coupon expires in 2 hours. Click here to activate." — Amazon doesn't distribute coupons via email that require "activation."
Phishing emails during shopping season are especially effective because people expect promotional emails and are primed to click. The urgency of expiring deals reinforces fast, uncritical action.
Delivery notification phishing also spikes. With everyone expecting packages, texts claiming "Your package couldn't be delivered — click here to reschedule" catch more victims than usual.
Counterfeit Product Deals
Listings on Amazon, eBay, and Walmart Marketplace for brand-name products at steep discounts that turn out to be counterfeits. Electronics, beauty products, clothing, and accessories are the most common categories. Counterfeit electronics can be not just disappointing but dangerous — fake chargers and batteries have caused fires.
Gift Card Scams
During the holiday shopping season, in-store gift card tampering increases. Scammers copy the numbers from physical gift cards on store racks, reseal the packaging, and wait for someone to buy and load the card. Once loaded, the scammer drains the balance using the copied numbers.
Buy gift cards from behind the counter when possible, and check for signs of tampering on the packaging.
Social Media Deal Scams
Fake social media accounts impersonating major retailers post "exclusive deals" with links to phishing sites. Instagram and Facebook are primary vectors. These posts often claim "comment DEAL to get the link" — the engagement boosts the post's visibility while the DM link leads to a scam site.
How to Shop Safely During Black Friday
Stick to retailers you know. Type URLs directly into your browser rather than following links from emails or ads. If you discover a new store through an ad, research it thoroughly before purchasing.
Use credit cards, not debit cards. Credit cards offer chargeback protection. Debit cards pull money directly from your bank account, making recovery harder. Virtual credit card numbers (offered by many banks) add another layer of protection.
Be skeptical of extreme discounts. If a deal seems too good to be true — 90% off, free products, unbelievable bundles — it probably is. Compare prices across multiple legitimate retailers to gauge what a genuine discount looks like.
Verify deals before clicking. When you receive a deal via email or see one on social media, go directly to the retailer's official website to check if the promotion is real. Don't follow the link in the message.
Check unfamiliar stores with IsThisAScam. Paste the URL of any store you're unsure about to check its reputation, domain age, and known fraud indicators before entering payment information.
Monitor your statements. Check your credit card and bank statements daily during and after the shopping season. Report unauthorized charges immediately. Early reporting improves recovery chances.
Use a password manager. Black Friday is when you create accounts on numerous shopping sites. Reusing passwords across these sites means one breach compromises all your accounts. A password manager generates and stores unique passwords for each site.
The best deals this Black Friday are real — but so are the scams. A few minutes of verification before each purchase can save you hundreds in losses.
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