How to Watch Out for Black Friday Schemes
Finding the perfect gift at the perfect deal has never been easier thanks to Instagram Shopping, Etsy and, of course, Amazon. But thanks to Black Friday and Cyber Monday scammers, it’s also never been riskier. Despite a down economy in 2020, Adobe Analytics reported that we still managed to spend a record $9 billion, which was a 21.6% increase over 2019! Retailers anticipate an even bigger sales year in 2021.
Before you buy this Black Friday or Cyber Monday, do these four things to avoid getting scammed:
- Only buy from reputable retailers (whose URLs say https, not just http)
- Disable international purchases on all your credit cards
- If possible, use ApplePay, Google Wallet, or PayPal to make your payments
- Don’t store your credit or debit card information on a retailer website
Keep a list of everything you purchase (scammers will try to send you messages about items you didn’t buy in order to get you to click a suspect link) and be aware of phishing attacks that come in the form of email “updates” on your purchases.
