Scots are being urged to take care shopping online during Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales amid concerns over scams and fraudulent products.

Experts at Advice Direct Scotland, which runs the national consumer advice service consumeradvice.scot, called on people to be ‘savvy shoppers’ when looking for bargains.

Black Friday falls on November 25th, followed by Cyber Monday November 28th, with many retailers offering cut-price deals in-store and online.

But the charity warned that opportunities for bargains brings a risk of people buying counterfeit or substandard products that may not be safe.

Colin Mathieson, spokesperson for Advice Direct Scotland, said: “Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are great opportunity for people to grab a bargain, with some amazing deals both in shops and online.

“However, it is important to be aware of the risks involved in buying potentially counterfeit or problematic items. It can be extremely difficult to tell the real from the fake, particularly when shopping online.”

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Mathieson added: “We would encourage consumers to check that the goods they are purchasing are genuine, by following our top tips including buying from reputable retailers.

“And, as always, people should remember that if something sounds too good to be true then there’s a high chance that it is.”

Ahead of the sales, consumeradvice.scot has put together a list of top tips for people to follow to avoid being caught out.

This includes:

Avoiding counterfeits

Counterfeit cosmetics and other products can pose health and safety issues and have a shorter lifespan than genuine goods from trusted retailers. Buying cheap can mean buying twice.

Check the packaging or manufacturer information

Counterfeit goods will often come in different packaging to the genuine article. This may include spelling mistakes, a lack of safety marks and missing or vague manufacturer address information like postal or web addresses.

Always check for evidence of testing on cosmetic products and avoid anything untested or unregulated.

Consult with the manufacturer

When something is sold out online, there may be alternatives elsewhere. Check with manufacturers and purchase goods from reputable suppliers and websites.

This could save consumers time and allow proper recourse if things do go wrong.

Know your seller

Check where the purchase is coming from – consumer rights may differ if the retailer you are purchasing from is based outside of the UK or EU.

Keep Calm and ‘Stay Savvy’

Don’t get carried away with unnecessary or unaffordable purchases.

Avoid purchasing if at all unsure

Don’t be rushed into a sale by the offer of lower prices and limited stock. Weigh up the options. And if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Black Friday & Cyber Monday Sales

The warning from Advice Direct Scotland follows a similar call from the NCSC last week, which advised consumers to “remain vigilant” during the holiday sales season.

Statistics released by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) and Action Fraud revealed that shoppers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland were scammed out of £15.3m between November 2021 and January 2022.

The research from the NFIB found that the demographic most likely to fall victim to online shopping scams were aged between 19 and 25.

In response, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) launched a nationwide drive to promote its Cyber Aware campaign to help shoppers protect themselves online.

The Cyber Aware campaign advises simple steps for shoppers to reduce their risk of suffering similar losses during this year’s Black Friday and pre-Christmas period.

In a statement last week, NCSC CEO Lindy Cameron said: “Online shoppers will understandably be looking for bargains during the Black Friday and Christmas shopping period and we want them to do so safely.

“Sadly we know that criminals will look to exploit consumers at this time of year which is why good cybersecurity has such an important role to play.”

She added: “I would urge everyone to help us fight the scammers by following our Cyber Aware advice to set up two-step verification and use three random words passwords.”

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