Too good to be true? Be careful when looking through those Black Friday offers - they might be a scam

3 hours ago 10

A person holding a phone looking at a text with warning signs

(Image credit: Shutterstock / Ken Stocker)

Black Friday 2025 is almost here, and scams are already underway
Your inbox is likely full of spam, but half of it could be a convincing scam
There are plenty of ways to stay safe this Black Friday

Scammers love a sales season, especially when people are looking for a bargain.

US consumers spent $10.8 billion online on Black Friday 2024, so it’s rich pickings for the less reputable, and new research from Bitdefender has claimed out of all the Black Friday spam you might have received, over half of it (53%) could be classed as a scam.

To no one’s surprise, most of the scams impersonate Amazon, which often peddles too-goo-to-be-true discounts during the Black Friday sales.

Bye-bye bank account

Bitdefender notes Black Friday spam mostly targets North America, with 60% of emails landing in a US inbox. Germany (12%), Ireland (7%), South Africa (4%), and the UK (3%) make up the rest of the list.

A graph displaying the top geographical targets of Black Friday Spam, with the US being the biggest recipient.

Much of the spam is self-inflicted, with 43% of spam emails originating from the US. Strangely, the Netherlands (14%) and Indonesia (13%) take second and third place for spam origination.

Scammers are also getting far more skilled in impersonating brands with clever campaigns. One example involved scammers impersonating United Healthcare in order to harvest user data with a ‘Black Friday Smile Upgrade’ email offering promotions on Oral-B dental kits.

Outside of Amazon and United Healthcare, bargain hunters should also be especially wary of offers from brands such as MediaMarkt, TEMU, IKEA, Kaufland, Grohe, Binance, Louis Vuitton, Jack Daniel’s, and even Reese’s.

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When it comes to verifying if a promotion is legitimate or not, Bitdefender recommends some simply checks:

Check promotions on the legitimate website first. If it isn’t there, it might be a scam.
Scammers know people are expecting deliveries, so be extra vigilant when receiving delivery updates.
Tools like Bitdefender’s Link Checker can be used to verify if a link is safe.
Suspicious messages can be verified with Bitdefender Scamio.
If you are on the lookout for a Black Friday bargain, be sure to have the best antivirus software active and on the lookout for potential threats.

If you’re in need of some upgraded security, take a look at my roundup of the best Black Friday antivirus deals.

Benedict has been with TechRadar Pro for over two years, and has specialized in writing about cybersecurity, threat intelligence, and B2B security solutions. His coverage explores the critical areas of national security, including state-sponsored threat actors, APT groups, critical infrastructure, and social engineering.

Benedict holds an MA (Distinction) in Security, Intelligence, and Diplomacy from the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham, providing him with a strong academic foundation for his reporting on geopolitics, threat intelligence, and cyber-warfare.

Prior to his postgraduate studies, Benedict earned a BA in Politics with Journalism, providing him with the skills to translate complex political and security issues into comprehensible copy.

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