What in the United States was a day of great sales, the Black Fridayin Spain it has become practically a month of offers, discounts and thousands of email messages, SMS, television and internet advertisements and links on WhatsApp and Telegram. A barrage of proposals to spend your money at the doors of the Christmas festivities. And, unfortunately, everything that is successful ends up being used for fraud and deception. This is the case of the many scams that occur on Black Friday.
On this occasion, I am not referring to the fact that, according to consumer associations, the vast majority of offers and discounts Black Friday are not such. And many do not comply with current regulations. Furthermore, the discounts we see outside the United States have nothing to do with those that occur there on that classic Friday sale. But, as I said, in this article we are going to focus on the frauds and scams on Black Friday. Those who use the claim of this very important day to sell us something that is not or, directly, keep your money through deception.
The maelstrom of compulsive purchases that occur during the Black Friday period is the ideal breeding ground for saturating ourselves with dangerous or harmful linkstype phishing scams phishing and all kinds of social engineering strategies designed so that send money to someone you don’t owe or directly give your bank details to a cybercriminal. But with common sense, caution, and the following tips, you can spend money on Black Friday deals. safely and without surprises unpleasant. Except realizing that what you bought was not worth it.
Offers, discounts and unwanted advertising
Let’s start with the moment before buying something on Black Friday. Black Friday is made up of two elements: shopping and deals. That is, we must be cautious during the purchase, but also with offers and discounts we found. Black Friday scams also abound before the day in question. You’ve probably been receiving messages with offers and discounts in the last month. By WhatsApp, SMS, email, on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, X…And while most may come from an original source, some may not be from who they say they are.
- Don’t open links from unknown or unsolicited. This includes QR codes.
- Avoid discharge something without permission or entering fraudulent pages
- It also serves to unsolicited calls or for internet ads
- Access online stores directly. Avoid links or indirect advertising
- don’t share personal or banking information by phone, SMS or WhatsApp
- Compare the offer received with the official page of the store or brand
And now several tips for offers and discountswhether or not they are Black Friday scams:
- Dedicate more time to small letter than the big headlines
- Don’t assume anything. Make sure the offer says what you think it says
- In subscriptionscheck if it has an expiration date or is definitive
- In products and services, check what the final price no additional fees
- Compare, compare and compare again. Don’t get carried away by the first impulse
- Make sure the offer does not involve giving up guarantees or other rights
- Obvious advice: be wary of excessive discounts. Especially recent products
- Large discounts are usually applied to products from previous seasons
If you are going to buy online, do it safely
Now that we have covered the offers and discounts part, let’s focus on the second part, online shopping. Frauds and scams on Black Friday also lurk during the purchasing process. And they are related to the deceptions we have seen before. Mainly, making us go in a direction that is not such.
- Check that the shopping app is the official
- Look for the padlock on the online purchase page
- Get informed about the store: physical addresscustomer service, return policy…
- Don’t contribute personal or banking details except at the time of purchase
- When creating a user, if the option is available, try using your Google ID, Facebook, Apple either amazon. It’s safer
- If this is not possible, create the passworddo not use a repeated
- Before purchasing, make sure the product information it’s correct
- Also check the final pricetransportation cost, guarantees, returns, etc.
As for the payment itself, some tips and precautions:
- Make sure the purchase is made through a payment gateway safe
- Better credit card than debit, in case you have to cancel the purchase
- Shopping between individualstry to use intermediary platforms
- Payments through Bizum, make sure how much money it is and where you send it
- Do not accept payments through Bizum without paying close attention to the Payment concept
Buying online on Black Friday can be a safe activity if you take certain security measures, the usual ones in this type of internet activity. Don’t rush or be in a hurry. Make sure what you are buying, the shipping conditions, the quality and guarantees of the product. And the price you are going to pay, without surprises. Also go to trusted stores or, at least, make sure they are. And finally, if you are a victim of fraud, the National Police recommends “change passwordscancel the Credit or debit card immediately, talk to your bank and report to the National Police.”