Black Friday scams: Is it too good to be true?
How to spot shopping scams this sales season.
Black Friday is Friday the 27th of November this year, followed by Cyber Monday and a runoff of sales leading up to Christmas. The whole event runs on urgency. Countdown timers, "only 3 left" warnings and one-day pricing are all designed to get you to buy quick.
Scammers like that pressure too. They lean on urgency and scarcity. A deal that ends in ten minutes feels more valuable, and that feeling crowds out careful thinking.
Shopping scams are a real issue in Australia. In 2025, more Australians lost money to shopping scams than to any other scam type: 12,248 people and $10.8 million in reported losses (National Anti-Scam Centre). Almost all of these scams start online, through fake websites, ghost stores, social media ads and look-alike apps.
Here are some tell-tale cues to spot a scam and shop securely this season:
Check the seller before the deal
Who's selling matters more than the price. Before you enter any payment details:
Type the web address yourself. Skip links in emails, texts and social media ads.
Read the URL closely. Fake sites copy real brands with small spelling changes or odd endings, like "amaz0n-deals.shop".
Look for an ABN and a physical address. Australian retailers publish both. You can check an ABN at abr.business.gov.au. A site with only a web form for contact deserves a second look.
Read reviews somewhere else. Use sites the seller doesn't control.
TIP: 🔒The padlock icon in your browser bar means the connection is encrypted with SSL. But it tells you nothing about whether the business is being honest. Scam sites can have padlocks (SSL certificates) too.
Treat discount messages with suspicion
Phishing was the most reported scam to Scamwatch in 2025, with more than 65,000 reports. Phishing is a fake message that pretends to come from a business you trust. Its job is to get you to click, log in or pay.
AI tools now make these messages look far more polished than they used to.
A few habits for every promo email or text:
Check the sender's email address matches the retailer's real website.
Never click a link to "confirm your account" or "fix a delivery problem" in your email. Open the retailer's app or website yourself in a new browser instead.
Be wary of calls or voice messages asking for urgent payment, even when the voice sounds familiar. Hang up and call back on a number you already know.
Pay in a way that protects you
How you pay decides what happens if the goods never turn up.
Use a credit card, PayPal, or payment method that offers purchase protection and/or ability to dispute charges.
Don't pay a retailer by bank transfer, gift card or crypto. Real stores don't ask for these.
Turn on transaction alerts in your banking app so you see unexpected charges fast.
Keep the order confirmation, seller details and a screenshot of the advertised price.
If you think you've been caught, call your bank straight away, then report it to Scamwatch. https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam
For businesses: help your customers spot the fakes
Scammers also pretend to be businesses, and that could include yours. Australian small businesses lodged over 2,000 scam reports in 2025, with millions of dollars lost.
Before Black Friday is a good moment to send your customers a short email. Remind them which domain your emails come from and what you'll never ask for, like passwords or payment to a new bank account. Then tell them how to check something with you directly.
Customers who know what you look like are much harder to fool with a fake version. That protects your reputation, because a scam using your name hurts your brand even when your systems were never breached.
If you'd like help writing that customer email, or want to see how your team handles a realistic fake offer (through our cyber awareness training program), book a call with our team.
