Black Friday 2022 discounts have started sprouting like mushrooms. As the massive sale is already right around the corner, online scams are also taking advantage.
(Photo : by Michael Ciaglo via Getty Images )
BROOMFIELD, CO - NOVEMBER 26: A Black Friday sales sign sits inside Macys at Flatirons Crossing mall on November 26, 2021 in Broomfield, Colorado. More shoppers are expected to shop in than last year after the COVID-19 pandemic caused the quietest Black Friday in 20 years.
It is worth noting that the Black Friday sale brings down prices of all sorts of products to extremely cheap levels. And as such, some folks take the opportunity to go about massive purchases like a massive OLED TV.
So it means that customers are spending serious bucks during the Black Friday festivities. Thus, it would be best to avoid falling into these notorious online shopping scams scrupulously.
Black Friday 2022 and Online Shopping Scams
As per the report by Safe Wise, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center or the IC3 saw hundreds and thousands of online fraud complaints last year alone.
To be more precise, the number of complaints in 2021 has ballooned to a staggering 847,376. And what's more, the estimated losses from these online scams account for roughly $6.9 billion.
So it turns out that while most folks are getting warier online, it appears that scammers still target thousands of victims. And it is to note that the figures of the FBI still do not include the cases that have not been formally complained about. So the numbers might be higher.
And now that the Black Friday 2022 sale is fast approaching, more consumers are planning to grab massive discounts online.
According to a story by Tech Radar, in the eyes of the threat actors or scammers, the massive Black Friday sale is a huge opportunity for them to target more shoppers. The bulk of customers searching for the best deals online gives them a chance to get hold of their financial information.
Read Also: Nintendo Switch Black Friday Deals 2022: Here's the Earliest Black Friday Sale for the Switch
How to Avoid Online Black Friday Scams
But to get the best bargain deal, shoppers must avoid online scams before anything else. And avoiding these online scams requires some due diligence to begin with.
(Photo : by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 26: Shoppers view merchandise through a store window during Black Friday in The Galleria mall on November 26, 2021 in Houston, Texas.
A report from Forbes says consumers should take a close look at pricing and the website of the retailer.
The cost of typically expensive products should still be possibly near what other retailers are selling them for. Although massive discounts are a thing during Black Friday, they should not be too far from the price of other retailers.
Besides the red flag of pricing, the website should also be legit. First off, the real online shopping website is supposed to be secure. Its URL should have "https://" instead of the unsecured "https://."
On top of that, it also helps to check for the contact information on the website. And the pages and text on the website should be free from misspellings and typographic errors.
Related Article: Black Friday Sales Figures Come In--Here Are The Top-Selling Tech For This Year
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Teejay Boris