Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year, both online and offline. That means the scammers will be out in force, trying to con victims with a variety of scams.
Scammers know that most of us will be buying a thing or two (or three) on the Internet today, and that is information they’ll try and take advantage of. Here are five emails that scammers will probably send you this Black Friday.
Scammers know most people will be placing online orders on Black Friday. And if a person who makes an online order then subsequently receives an email claiming there was a problem with a recent order and asks them to click a link to rectify the problem, there’s a good chance the recipient will do just that.
So watch out for emails that make these claims, even if they appear to be from legitimate resellers like Amazon or eBay. These links may take you to spoof phishing websites that ask for your login information, and then send that information straight to the scammers.
Emails claiming your recent transaction was declined by your bank use a similar method to the above example, and may lead to phishing websites masquerading as your bank in order to steal your online banking information.
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When we make online orders, we generally expect some sort of email receipt or invoice confirming the order, and this is another way scammers can exploit online shoppers. Fake order confirmation emails can try and trick recipients into opening malicious email attachments or clicking on suspect links.
Generally companies like Amazon and eBay will include order information on the email itself, and won’t ask recipients to click links or open attachments.
Online orders mean we expect deliveries coming in the post. Scammers can exploit this by sending emails that claim there were issues when delivering a parcel, and for further details to open an email attachment. This is another way scammers can trick recipients into opening malicious email attachments.
You can get some great deals on Black Friday, but if you get a deal that seems too good to be true land in your email inbox, then it probably is. Using fake offers to lure victims to counterfeit websites is one of the oldest tricks in the book, yet these scams are still prolific on busy shopping days.
Such emails can appear to be from legitimate companies, or from names you’ve never heard of. Always remember the web domains of websites you trust (amazon.com, ebay.com etc.) and make sure you’re on those websites before you make a purchase, and not on look-a-like websites. So for example, www.amazons-black-friday-deals.com is NOT an Amazon website.