Before you click “purchase” on a Black Friday online deal, you may want to think twice.
Black Friday is expected to be one of the biggest shopping days of the year, with Americans forecast to spend $11.7 billion online, according to Adobe Analytics. Mobile shopping will drive more than half of all sales, Adobe estimates.
As millions of Americans search apps and websites for deals, experts warn that consumers should be on the lookout for fraudsters who will try to capitalize on the holiday shopping rush.
“Limited time only, gotta do it now, before it sells out, whatever it is. That whole sense of urgency is something bad guys love,” Lisa Plaggemier, executive director of the National Cybersecurity Alliance, told CBS News Texas.
Fake QR codes, phony social media posts and phishing emails are just some of the tools scammers use to lure consumers into unwittingly forking over their information.
To pull off their schemes, fraudsters are increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence. One common scam is creating “deepfakes” — videos that appear to be a celebrity or influencer promoting a product but are in fact a dupe — to bait people into visiting counterfeit websites. That means that what you see may not be what you get.
Once there, fraudsters can steal both your payment information and your personal credentials.
“You can’t rely on your eyes and ears anymore,” Plaggemier said.
Scammers are also creating social media ads that mimic popular brands to fool customers into thinking whatever they are buying is the real deal, according to LifeLock, an identity theft protection service.
Here are some tips to avoid scams if you’re planning to make online purchases on Black Friday.
- Check the URL to make sure it’s from a reputable retailer. Scammers often create fake websites that mirror other businesses’ URLs. The fake ones, however, will contain misspellings or extra numbers and letters. For example, a fraudster might use the lookalike URL be5tbuy.com to mimic bestbuy.com, according to LifeLock. If something seems amiss, take a moment to reconsider your purchase.
- Use a credit card. Experts say using a credit card can better protect against fraud. With debit cards, the onus falls on you to get your money back, according to NerdWallet, a personal finance website. With credit cards, it’s up to the card issuer to get the money back, meaning the consumer faces less legwork and an easier path to getting a refund. Whatever card you use, experts encourage shoppers to track their purchase history to make sure nothing is amiss.
- Be skeptical of offers or discounts that seem too good to be true. Caila Schwartz, director of consumer insights at Salesforce, told CBS News in an email that shoppers should verify offers directly on the retailer’s web page.
- Read the fine print. While it may be easy to skim over purchase details, experts encourage shoppers to give them some extra attention. Melanie McGovern, the director of public relations and social media at the nonprofit Better Business Bureau, told CBS News Texas that shoppers should check shipping dates, return policies and restocking dates for sold-out items. “Just doing general things before you make that purchase will help you to make sure you get the item before the holidays,” she told CBS News Texas.
- Use the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker. The tool lets you report scams and read those documented by other consumers, helping you avoid falling for the same tactics.
- Be wary of links from unsolicited emails and text messages. Scammers often send messages that appear to come from a legitimate company, urging you to take an action such as updating your payment information. LifeLock advises consumers to check the sender’s email address to confirm it matches the organization it claims to be. Shoppers should also watch for spelling or branding mistakes, a common sign of a scam.