Shopping during Black Friday and Cyber Monday can be an exhilarating experience for many, but local police are cautioning shoppers to be vigilant as they hit the streets for these major shopping events. Mark Shelford, the National Lead for Economic Cyber Crime at the Association of Police and Crime Commissioner’s (PCC) and the Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner, is highlighting the importance of exercising caution both in physical stores and online during these discount shopping days.
Last year, the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) reported a staggering £10 million lost to scams during the festive period, with an average individual loss of £1,000. The data from NFIB also revealed that social media platforms were the most common medium for shopping fraud.
E-commerce presents an opportunity for criminals to lure unsuspecting shoppers into purchasing non-existent goods or services, often through advertisements on social media that feature images sourced from legitimate sellers to create the illusion of authenticity. Additionally, criminals employ tactics such as creating cloned websites with slight variations in the URL to deceive consumers into believing they are buying from a genuine source.
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Mark Shelford emphasized the necessity of implementing simple yet effective security measures when engaging in online shopping during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. He advised consumers to exercise caution when presented with heavily discounted or exceptionally cheap products or services, urging them to verify the credibility of the websites before making any purchases.
To combat and prevent these types of crimes, the PCC recommends immediately contacting the bank in the event of falling victim to a scam by using a trusted contact number, following which individuals should report the scam to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or through actionfraud.police.uk.