Watch Out for Pre-Black Friday Scams!

A recent Weekly Bulletin from the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell (NJCCIC) highlighted scammers targeting New Jersey consumers related to retailers offering Pre-Black Friday deals.

NJCCIC and National Retail Federation Warnings

The NJCCIC (also known as the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness Division of Cybersecurity), is a state-level information sharing and analysis organization that exchanges cyber threat intelligence for government, businesses, and citizens in New Jersey. Its Weekly Bulletin aggregates information about cyber threats, vulnerabilities, and other resources to promote shared awareness and the adoption of best practices.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that nearly half of consumers began holiday shopping before November last year, with many consumers are taking advantage of retailers’ early access and pre-Black Friday deals. This year, similar trends are expected.

Increased Pre-Holiday Sales Events

Both retailers and consumers are being impacted by inflation. More sales events are taking place — designed to accommodate customers planning to spread out their holiday shopping expenses.

A Barclays study showed that almost 50 percent of surveyed customers indicated they feel pressured to make purchases during Black Friday sales to take advantage of the best deals. Also, many customers are willing to buy from unknown sellers to get a cheaper price.

Cybercriminal Activity Targeting Consumers

Cybercriminals proactively target consumers who are doing online shopping during the pre-holiday and holiday seasons. Bad actors look to scam consumers by sending out fake order confirmations, providing bogus tracking numbers, and setting up fake websites that impersonate legitimate retailers. They also fabricate fake retailers to scam shoppers.

In October of 2023, Trend Micro identified nearly 35,000 URLs related to Black Friday scams, representing a 10 percent year-over-year increase.

An example was scammers impersonating a legitimate company the sells Christmas decorations. They created a fake website that was promoted on social media to lure victims.

Shoppers Best Practices

The following are a few NJCCIC-provided best practices to follow, as you start shopping during the Pre-Black Friday Period and throughout the holidays:

• Remember the old saying “If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is!”
• Verify that you are on an official website with legitimate package tracking.
• Avoid going to websites through shared social media posts.
• If you are buying from an unknown retailer, be sure to check out its reputation and ratings prior to making a purchase.
• If you accidentally provide your online account or banking details to an illegitimate entity, immediately change your passwords. Also, enable multi-factor authentication (MFA), and inform your banking institution. (Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a login process that requires users to enter more information than just a password – such as entering a code sent to the buyer’s email – or, answering a secret question).

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