Black Friday Sales
The 24th of November (although many deals and indeed scams begin earlier than this)
While there can certainly be some great deals out there on black Friday, many of these can be almost too persuasive.
It’s important to consider whether you were going to buy a specific item in the first place:
- If so, the likelihood is that you will be better off.
- If you weren’t going to buy it, but you found a great deal and it is something that you will use a lot and cherish, then you can certainly consider it.
- If you weren’t going to buy it but found a persuasive deal and are vaguely interested but not besotted, SAVE YOUR MONEY!
Just because there are great deals out there, doesn’t necessarily mean you need them!
Be wary if a deal seems too good to be true-it probably is. Make sure to thoroughly research a company that you will be purchasing from to make sure you don’t get scammed and use their genuine websites if you are going to go ahead with a purchase.
There has been an increase in fake companies using social media to target prospective customers who pay money to never receive any items. According to UK Finance Figures, over £27 Million was lost to fraud this way in 2020. Again, browse and buy directly from genuine websites-don’t use links provided on Instagram for example.
Look out for Phishing emails from large companies such as amazon which actually have a fake email address that may look very real. Look out for random numbers, letters or symbols in these as this will indicate if you should be suspicious.
“There is a problem with your delivery…” Scammers know that people tend to do lots of online shopping around this time of year and that people will usually click on links or give out personal information as a result of a fake delivery notification. How do you avoid this? Go through your courier’s website directly to check on the status of a parcel you may be waiting for
Stay safe and scam aware!