Black Friday and Cyber Monday Scams: How to Spot Fake Deals Before You Get Burned

A brand-new MacBook Pro for $199. An 85-inch Samsung TV for $149. A Dyson vacuum for $29. These deals flood your inbox, social media feeds, and search results every November. They look incredible because they are not real.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the biggest shopping events of the year — and the biggest hunting season for scammers. Fraudulent activity spikes by over 80% during the holiday shopping period, with consumers losing billions of dollars to fake deals, counterfeit stores, and phishing attacks.

How Shopping Season Scams Work

Fake Online Stores

Scammers create convincing replicas of popular retail websites or entirely new "discount" stores that appear only during the shopping season. These sites:

• Have professional-looking designs copied from real retailers
• Offer impossibly deep discounts (80-95% off)
• Accept payment but never ship products
• Disappear within weeks after the shopping season

Phishing Deal Emails

You receive emails that look like they are from Amazon, Walmart, or Best Buy promoting exclusive deals. The links lead to phishing sites that capture your login credentials and credit card details.

Scam Type	Red Flag
Fake store	Domain registered days or weeks ago
Phishing email	Sender address does not match the brand
Social media ad	"Limited time" pressure with no verifiable source
Coupon scam	Requires personal information to "unlock" deal
Fake app	Not available on official app stores
Price error bait	Claims a "glitch" price that you must act on immediately

Social Media Ad Scams

Scammers buy targeted ads on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok promoting unbelievable deals. The ads link to professional-looking stores that steal your payment information or ship counterfeit products.

Fake Shipping Notifications

During peak shopping season, you are likely expecting packages. Scammers send fake delivery notifications via text or email: "Your package could not be delivered. Click here to reschedule." The link installs malware or leads to a phishing page.

How to Spot Fake Deals

1. Check the Website's Age

Use a WHOIS lookup tool to check when the domain was registered. Legitimate retailers have been around for years. If the domain was registered weeks or days ago, walk away.

2. Verify the URL Carefully

• Look for slight misspellings: amaz0n.com, walmrat.com, best-buys.com
• Check for HTTPS — but remember, scam sites can also have SSL certificates
• Search for the store name + "scam" or "review" before buying

3. Research Before You Buy

• Search for the website on Trustpilot, ScamAdviser, or BBB
• Check if the store has social media presence with real engagement
• Look for a physical address and contact information

4. Compare Prices Across Retailers

If one store offers a product at 90% off while every other retailer sells it at full price, that "deal" is almost certainly a scam.

5. Use a Credit Card, Not a Debit Card

Credit cards offer chargeback protection. If you are scammed, you can dispute the charge. Debit cards withdraw directly from your bank account with far less protection.

6. Avoid Wire Transfers and Gift Card Payments

No legitimate retailer asks you to pay via wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or gift cards. These payment methods are irreversible — once the money is sent, it is gone.

Protecting Your Payment Information

During the shopping season, you enter your credit card details on more websites than usual. Each additional site is another potential point of exposure.

If you need to share payment details, loyalty account passwords, or gift card codes with family members for holiday shopping coordination, do not send them through iMessage or Messenger in plain text. Use LOCK.PUB to create a password-protected link that expires after use — keeping your financial details encrypted.

What to Do If You Have Been Scammed

1. Contact your bank or credit card company immediately to dispute the charge
2. Report the fake store to the FTC (reportfraud.ftc.gov) and your local consumer protection agency
3. Change passwords for any accounts where you used the same credentials
4. Monitor your credit for unauthorized activity
5. Report fake ads to the social media platform where you saw them

The Psychology Behind Shopping Scams

Scammers exploit specific psychological triggers during shopping events:

• Urgency: "Only 2 left at this price!" / "Deal ends in 10 minutes!"
• Social proof: Fake reviews and inflated purchase counters
• Anchoring: Showing a fake "original price" to make the discount seem larger
• FOMO: "Everyone is buying this!" notifications
• Scarcity: Fake countdown timers and limited stock warnings

Understanding these tactics makes you much harder to fool.

Stay Safe This Shopping Season

The best deals during Black Friday and Cyber Monday come from retailers you already know and trust. If an unknown store is offering a deal that seems impossible, it is. Take an extra minute to verify before you enter your payment details.

For sharing gift card codes, shared account passwords, or payment details with family during the holidays, LOCK.PUB keeps your information encrypted and password-protected — far safer than a text message.

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Shop smart, shop safe. Use LOCK.PUB to securely share payment details and gift card codes with family during the holiday shopping season.