Scammers eager to profit from Black Friday shopping weekend

(InvestigateTV) — The National Retail Federation predicts that over 183 million people plan to go shopping this holiday weekend, and fraudsters are hoping to exploit this buying frenzy.

Milvionne Chery with WalletHub shared a warning with consumers about the many ways criminal will try and take their money.

“So, scammers, they’re gonna take advantage of the fact that you’re willing to spend money,” Chery shared.

Chery said one tactic scammers use is to create fake websites that look like legitimate retailers.

“So, they call these spoof websites and so they’re designed to basically steal your credit card information,” she explained. “You think you’re making a purchase, but really you’re not making, you’re trying to make a purchase, but you’re putting in your credit card information that the scammers end up just stealing and you don’t end up getting that purchase that you want.”

She also cautioned against delivery scams where fraudsters send texts or emails claiming there is an issue with a delivery.

“And really, the scammers are just trying to get a way for you to contact them and give them your sensitive information, including your credit card information, that they can use, steal and use,” she said.

To avoid falling for these scams, Chery recommended not clicking on any suspicious links.

She also offered a budgeting tip: do not go into debt just because a deal looks tempting.

“If you see a computer that’s for sale on Black Friday, a retailer might say, ‘oh you don’t need to pay everything upfront—you could sign up for like a credit card and get zero percent interest for 6 months,” Chery said. “People might think that’s a really great deal, and if you could pay that off in six months, that’ll be a great deal. But if you don’t, if you don’t pay that full price back in six months, you’re going get that full interest from the original purchase price, placed on the card that you’ll have to pay back!”

Those that see a suspicious website can report it to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) Scam Tracker and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Report Fraud website.

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