Black Friday Scams

By: Adama Barrow

Holiday time is quickly approaching. In addition to being a great time to visit with loved ones, especially on Black Friday, it’s also a great time to shop. On Black Friday, tens of millions of Christmas shoppers flood the malls to get deals, fight for hot products, and cross items from their lists. During 2021, Black Friday alone saw around $9 billion in American consumer expenditure. This rush of buying action attracts scam artists looking to make money as well. In fact, one out of every four shoppers’ reports having been a victim of fraud during the holiday season. Holiday provides con artists with a prime opportunity to steal your property, credit card information, or identity.

The day that the Black Friday arrives is the day that the scammers are ready to sell your money and make you broke. You must be very careful especially when you’re doing online shopping. There are many better deals that you can get. They make the prices go super high and then, during Black Friday, they bring it down a little bit to make it seem like you’re spending that money even though you’re not. Black Friday is a scam that’s been happening to the whole world for generations. The scams usually range far and wide, these people sitting behind a computer desk waiting for the whole year just to scam you. There’re company’s such as Amazon Best Buy, Walmart, who usually roll out the deals over the holidays.

The whole year is just to scam you. Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, who usually roll out the deals over the holidays and that creates elaborate websites to trick you into spending money on products you’ll never receive. Such an example might be you donating to a shelter for dogs, you might think you’re going to get the puppy in the end it doesn’t even exist. You need to know the difference between a fake website and a real website especially during these holidays. Try to go inside the store instead of going online. Trying to make sure that the store is legit and it’s not a fake one. And don’t put in your credit card information quickly, scammers want that. This is also a gift card scamming. When you ordered a gift card online on black Friday or cyber-Monday, they ask you to pay with a gift card, but the gift card never comes in or you don’t get it. It’s a scam. For the most part, just be careful during these holidays. People in this world are quite horrible.