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A Black Friday deal is probably a scam if the seller cannot be checked independently, the price is implausibly low, or the seller insists on payment by gift card, wire transfer, payment app or cryptocurrency. A familiar logo, a polished website or a product photo proves none of those things. Black Friday falls on 27 November 2026. The guidance below is written for shoppers in the United States, with a separate UK section because reporting routes and consumer remedies differ between countries.
How Black Friday scams reach you
Most seasonal fraud arrives through three channels: fake advertising, phishing messages and pop-ups that imitate security warnings. Each one depends on the same thing, a deal that makes you act before you check.
Fake ads and fake stores
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warns that scammers may impersonate real companies in social-media ads, promote brand-name products at unusually low prices, and send shoppers to a fake website. The outcomes range from losing the money entirely, to receiving counterfeit goods, to receiving something materially different from what was advertised. In other words, an ad can lead to a fake product, an item that does not resemble the one pictured, or no product at all.
Phishing texts and emails
Phishing messages often imitate a company you already know. They may claim there is a problem with a payment or account, ask for personal or financial information, or offer a coupon that does not exist. The link in the message may lead to malware or to a page built to steal your login details. FTC phishing guidance recommends caution with unexpected links and attachments, keeping software updated, and reporting phishing attempts.
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Tech-support pop-ups
A pop-up that appears after you click a deal, or while you are browsing, can also be a scam. According to the FTC, real security warnings do not ask you to call a phone number. If you are worried about your device, update your security software and run a scan, then contact the company through a route you already know is official. Do not call a number supplied by an alarming pop-up.
Is this online store legitimate? A pre-purchase check
Work through these steps before entering any card details. None of them takes long, and together they catch most fake sellers.
- Search the seller’s name and the exact web address from the ad, adding words such as “review,” “complaint” or “scam.” A fake store often has no independent history, or has a trail of complaints about non-delivery.
- Open the retailer’s official site or app yourself. Type the address or use your saved app rather than following a deal link. If the offer is genuine, it should also appear there.
- Compare the price with ordinary prices for the same item. An implausibly low price is a warning sign, not proof of fraud by itself, but a deep discount on a brand-name product from an unfamiliar seller deserves suspicion.
- Read the shipping, refund, return-shipping and restocking terms before you pay. Vague or missing terms are a reason to walk away.
- Choose your payment method deliberately, as set out in the next section.
- Save the evidence. Keep the receipt, order number, seller details, and any relevant messages or screenshots of the offer.
The FTC’s holiday shopping advice also reminds buyers that sellers must ship by the promised time or give the buyer a chance to cancel and receive a refund. If a seller cannot meet the shipping date, that is a point to raise with the seller and, if needed, your payment provider.
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Is it safe to click a Black Friday deal text?
Treat an unsolicited deal text as unverified until you have checked it. Urgency is the main tool of phishing: a countdown, a “final notice,” or a claim that your payment has failed is designed to stop you thinking. Do not tap the link. Instead, open the retailer’s app or type its address into your browser, then look for the offer there.
A padlock icon or a web address that begins with “https” only shows that the connection is encrypted. It does not show that the seller is honest, that the product is authentic, or that the offer is real. Fraudulent sites can and do use encrypted connections.
Payment methods: which ones give you a way back
How you pay matters as much as who you pay. The FTC’s 2025 holiday shopping advice puts the warning plainly:
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“And if the seller says you can only pay with a gift card, wire transfer, payment app, or cryptocurrency, it’s probably a scam.” (Federal Trade Commission, 2025 holiday shopping advice)
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If you have already paid or shared information
Act quickly. The steps below are in the order that tends to work best.
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Step 1: Contact the seller, then your payment provider
First try to resolve the problem directly with the seller or website. If that fails, contact your payment provider and ask to dispute the applicable charges. Keep your receipts, order confirmations and messages throughout, because your provider will ask for them.
Step 2: Secure your accounts and device
- If you clicked a phishing link or entered a password on a suspicious page, change that password immediately.
- Change any other account where you reused the same password. Use a unique password for each account.
- Update your device’s security software and run a scan, as the FTC recommends when a computer may have a problem.
- If your bank or card details were entered on the page, contact your bank or card issuer directly, using a number from its official website or the back of your card.
Step 3: Report it
In the United States, USAGov lists the FTC for scams and suspicious communications, state consumer-protection offices and state attorneys general. For a seller outside the United States, USAGov points to Econsumer.gov. Reporting helps authorities spot patterns, and it is worth doing even if you have recovered your money.
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Two optional steps reduce the damage a scam can do, though neither can tell you whether a store or discount is genuine.
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- Multi-factor authentication with a USB security key. The FBI lists a USB security key among the methods that can be used for multi-factor authentication. It makes it harder for someone who has your password to sign in to an account that supports it.
- A password manager. A password manager helps you keep a unique password for every account. The FTC’s tech-support scam guidance suggests considering one for exactly this purpose. Using one does not mean the FTC endorses any particular product.
UK readers: reporting and the seasonal figures
If you are in the United Kingdom, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) advises reporting suspicious emails, texts and fake shop websites through its reporting services. Those routes are separate from the U.S. channels above, so use the NCSC’s guidance rather than assuming a single global reporting route.
What the published loss figures do and do not show
Two official figures are often quoted in holiday fraud coverage. They measure different things, and neither is a Black Friday loss estimate. No Black Friday-specific loss figure was established from official sources for this article.
| Figure | What it covers | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| $2.95 billion in consumer losses in 2024 | Business and government impersonation scams in the United States, broadly, across the whole year | FTC press release, April 2025 |
| £11.8 million lost to online shopping fraud | Online shopping fraud in the UK during 1 November 2024 to 31 January 2025, based on City of London Police data | UK National Cyber Security Centre, citing City of London Police data |
The FTC’s April 2025 press release included a statement from Chris Mufarrige, Director of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection: “The billions of dollars American consumers lose at the hands of impersonators is staggering.” That remark also refers to impersonation scams in general, not to Black Friday.
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The FTC guidance quoted in this article is from 2025. Check the FTC’s website for newer holiday advice as the season approaches, and check the NCSC for current UK figures and reporting links, since both change over time.
Black Friday deals are attractive for good reasons, and most sellers are legitimate. The difference between a good deal and a scam usually comes down to whether you can verify the seller before paying and whether your payment method leaves you a way to recover your money.
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