Black Friday scams 2026: fake online shops first
Fake online shops advertise brand-name goods at unusually low prices, then send counterfeit goods or nothing.
Check the shop before you pay, pay by credit card, and if the seller insists you can only pay by gift card, wire transfer, payment app or cryptocurrency, walk away. Criminals copy real brands’ logos and run the same ads for weeks around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so the shop that finds you is the one to check hardest. Black Friday is 27 November 2026 and Cyber Monday is 30 November.
Buying on a marketplace app? Each has its own page on its returns, its record and the scams that use its name: Is Temu safe?, Is AliExpress safe?, Is Shein safe?, Is TikTok Shop safe?, Is DHgate safe?.
Check the one you got
Paste what you were sent. HARD checks it in this browser with the same rules as the Is this legit? check in its apps. Nothing you paste leaves this page.
Check a shop before you pay
- Search the shop, not the product.
- Type the shop’s name or web address with “review”, “complaint” or “scam” after it. The FTC gives this as its first check. A shop with no history, or only five-star reviews posted on its own pages, is a warning.
- Don’t trust the ad.
- Scammers copy real companies and run social media ads for brand-name goods at unusually low prices (FTC, 25 November 2025). A genuine brand’s own ad will lead to the brand’s own site. Go to the retailer by typing its address or using its app, not through the ad.
- Read the web address letter by letter.
- Fake shops often use a real brand with an extra word, a different ending, or a character swapped for a lookalike. If the name is right but the ending is odd, close the tab.
- Look for the shop’s real details.
- A business address, a phone number that rings, and returns and privacy pages written for that shop. Copied or missing pages, or contact details that are just a form, are a reason to stop.
- Treat a deal that is too good as the warning.
- A discount of 70 or 80 per cent on a new phone, a coat, a games console or a designer bag, with a countdown clock, is how fake shops are built. Compare the price with two shops you already know.
- Pay in the way you can reverse.
- Pay by credit card where you can, so you can dispute the charge. A shop that insists on a gift card, wire transfer, payment app or cryptocurrency is, in the FTC’s words, probably a scam, because that money is very hard to get back.
- Keep the order page and receipt.
- Screenshot the listing, the price and the order confirmation. You will want them if you have to dispute the charge.
If you already paid
- Call your bank or card company now.
- Use the number on the back of the card. Say you paid a shop that you now believe is fake and ask to dispute the charge and replace the card. The sooner the better.
- Change what you typed in.
- Stop using the fake shop. If you created an account there, don’t sign in to it again; change that password directly on any legitimate website or app where you reused it, and use a different password for each account. Your card number, address and phone number are now with a criminal, so watch your statements for small test charges over the next weeks.
- Keep the evidence.
- The order confirmation, screenshots, the web address, emails and any messages with the seller.
- Report it.
- In the US, tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. In Australia, report it to Scamwatch at scamwatch.gov.au. Reports help get shops taken down.
- Expect the follow-up.
- People who have paid a fake shop often get a call or message pretending to be a refund service or the bank. Don’t pay a fee to get your money back, and call your bank back on a number you already have.
If it was your parents, read Look after your parents, and if a card number or password has gone, Breaches explains what each kind of leaked data lets criminals do.
Gift cards, delivery texts and fake orders
Other scams to watch for while you shop and wait on parcels.
- Gift cards.
- A shop that insists on a gift card as payment for an order is, in the FTC’s words, probably a scam, and the same goes for anyone who asks for one to cover a delivery fee or a fine. Stop before you buy the card: once the code is read out, the money is very hard to get back.
- Delivery texts.
- A text that says a parcel is held, a fee is due or an address is wrong, with a link, is how criminals collect card details. Don’t tap the link. If you have an account with the carrier or shop, open its app or type its address yourself. Forward the text to 7726 (SPAM) in the US and delete it.
- Fake order and “problem with your payment” emails.
- An email about an order you didn’t place, with a number to ring or a button to cancel, is meant to get you to hand over your card or log in to a fake page. Go to your account on the real site instead.
Someone on the phone asking for money right now? Guides has the two-step answer. More scams by name are on Is this a scam?, and new ones reach the Situation Room.
Questions
How do I know if an online shop is fake?
Search the shop’s name or web address with “review” or “scam”, read the web address closely, look for a real business address and phone number, and be most careful of prices far below the usual. If the seller insists you can only pay by gift card, wire transfer, payment app or cryptocurrency, it is probably a scam.
Is this website legit?
No single sign proves it. Check what other people report about the shop, how long it has existed, whether its contact details are real, and whether the price is believable. Pay by credit card so you can dispute the charge if it isn’t.
What if I already paid a fake online shop?
Call your bank or card company on the number on the back of the card, ask to dispute the charge and replace the card, change any reused password directly on the real website or app (not through the shop), keep the order page and receipt, and report it to ReportFraud.ftc.gov in the US or scamwatch.gov.au in Australia.
Are Cyber Monday scams different from Black Friday ones?
No. The same fake shops, ads, gift card requests and delivery texts run through both days and the weeks around them.
Can I get my money back from a fake shop?
Often through your card company if you paid by card and you ask quickly. Money sent by gift card, wire transfer, payment app or crypto is far harder to recover.
Sources
Sources checked on 7 Nov 2026.
- FTC Consumer Alert: How to avoid an online shopping scam this holiday season, 25 November 2025: ads from impostors, searching the seller, paying by credit card, gift cards, disputing a charge, ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
- FTC: How to recognize and avoid phishing scams, read 7 November 2026: don’t click links in unexpected messages, forward texts to 7726, report to the FTC.
- AV-Comparatives: Fake-Shops Detection Certification 2025, 6 November 2025: calls fake shops a growing threat; no growth figure is stated.