Black Friday — it's time for fun & lots of shopping!!! But beware you fun loving shoppers...you might not aware off possible rip-offs that can entirely spoil your savings & the charm of the holiday. Here goes some freaky scams which can turn down the season for shopping into a financial disaster.
1. Wrong or duplicate products
If you decide to buy a product through online shopping websites, make sure you are getting the exact product you have ordered for, not a similar quality different one. This Black Friday - and also throughout the whole holiday till NEW YEARS EVE, you may find out several fishy e-commerce/shopping websites. These sites might promise extraordinary offers & deals but in reality they are only peddling low grade goods.
These sites ensure to give huge discount if you order goods from them, but sometimes you might end up with huge loss instead of gain. Especially when it comes for the shoppers who are searching for cheap deal in luxury goods. Many online dealers may promote the same goods at a enticingly low prices.
If you have any doubts against the website, you can check about its reputation with Better Business Bureau's business search. You should also verify the classified ads before buying goods from them, it is possible that they might not be genuine also.
2. Spam e-mails & messages
Nowadays, world wide web is booming with spams!!! You do not have to go anywhere to get spammy offers, they can surely be delivered to you...straight in your inbox.
Spam e-mails and text messages will be the most annoying process of scam. Each and everyday you'll receive dozens of them, offering you a huge amount of money as commission or giving you an absurd deal.
Despite of these fake offers, you'll get many authentic, genuine e-mails regarding Black Friday discounts,coupons etc. There are several reputed online stores where you can subscribe their newsletter to know about future exciting deals namely Bestbuy, Target, Amazon, eBay & many more.
FBI have shared some useful tips regarding spam mails:
a.Verify the sender's mail address before giving any reply. If you don't recognize the sender, do not reply to the message or click on any attached links.
b.Do not entertain any unknown mails. If there is any attachment within the mail, verify before downloading it, it might be a virus.
c. If you've any doubt regarding the content of the mail, contact the respective sender directly through their website Instead of using provided contact info within the mail, it may be a trap. Use common sense instead of being fool.
3. Fake or invalid coupons
If you are a smart shopper, finding an attractive discount coupon online on a already discounted product would be like winning a jackpot!! And there are many websites which offers these coupons online this season — but unfortunately , not all coupons are genuine.
Different renowned anti-virus software maker companies like Norton, Kaspersky, McAfee, Bitdefender etc have warned holiday shoppers to became aware of the fake coupons. These fake discount tickets are nothing but a way of cyber-crime through which the scammers attracts the normal buyers to provide their personal financial details in these fake websites database. Verify before every click you are giving in those coupons. Any suspicious-looking coupons can be the phishing-trap for you, so be cautious.
If you're not sure that the coupons are legitimate or not, verify these from the official retail shop websites or read online or newspaper ads for real coupons & offers available.
In this holidays, criminals & scammers might try to swipe more and more money from you. So, while you hit the stores, be cautious & do not hand over your credit/debit card to any unknown person. Try to buy any good from selected , popular shops if possible.If you have the option to pay with either of the two cards, try to choose credit card. It will be easier to disputing the charges in your credit card is easier than debit card if anyone misuses your card details. Cash payment is another safe option if you can avail it, but it is not always possible. Most of the offers comes with credit card payment option. Enjoy your holiday special shopping but being a safe and secure buyer.