Black Friday Scams Beware

Around this time of the year, many consumers eagerly anticipate bargains, as companies and retailers seek to rid themselves of excess stock and services available while turning a profit. This is all achieved by inducing a shopping frenzy known as Black Friday.

Here are the most common scams to be on the lookout for:

• Click and Receive Emails.
• Phishing Scams.
• Fake Offers on Social Media.
• Gift Card Scams.

There are ways to avoid being defrauded out of your hard-earned money. Always check with reputable sources to ensure that such companies do actually deliver or are not fly by nights. Furthermore, look for references and customer complaints, as this is a good point of reliability in terms of quality assurance. Another factor one would like to observe is the authenticity of emails coming from retailers. It is wise to inspect the website URL beforehand to avoid being defrauded by a non-existent entity. It is also highly commendable to utilise google maps/google earth at street view to ascertain if a business is using a false address or not.

On a final note, all that is necessary to avoid falling victim to any Black Friday based fraudulent online activity is common sense:

1. Avoid being too hasty to make online purchases from unreputable sources.
2. Inspect links before you click on them. For example, those which advertise 'five for the price of one' using a known retailer's template. 
3. Lastly, be sure to hover the mouse over the link to ensure the URL is a legitimate source host.