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Immediately after Thanksgiving, holiday shopping really takes off, especially online. But the season comes with a warning of targeted scams that will be rife during Black Friday weekend.
“Most of these ads are meant to tell you that something great is happening, whether it’s a great investment, a great gift, or a great product at a very low price,” said scam expert and Crypto Sentry Recovery CEO Bezalel Eithan Raviv. Crypto Sentry Recovery is a blockchain security and recovery company.
“One in three Americans will be targeted between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so be sure to stay extra vigilant,” he said.
Raviv said targeted messaging on platforms like Facebook and Instagram often uses financial incentives about how to earn extra income at the end of the year.
Transactions involving Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are a specific tool they can use to trick unsuspecting consumers.
“The tactic to catch them is fear of missing out (FOMO)… something they are not involved in and want to be a part of based on the profits. All of this speaks to their need, their desire to make money through something they know nothing or very little about,” he said.
Once scammers steal cryptocurrency, it can be extremely difficult to recover it without organizations like Crypto Sentry Recovery, as well as law enforcement and court action to freeze the assets before the scammers can spend them.
Raviv said that for most people, fraudulent ads can be nearly impossible to spot.
Beyond financial incentives and great product deals, targeted messages can also strike a chord with you.
Scammers may ask you to donate to a cause you feel strongly about this holiday season, but the money will actually end up in the hands of organized criminals.
They will often use sophisticated algorithms to scan your social media profile and pick a cause that might be important to you.
Raviv said that consumers, when they are online, especially on social media, are spreading information about themselves “day and night. That information can be used against them.”
He recommends that instead of falling for any of these ads, you go directly to the company or nonprofit’s website separately and search for the same offer to make sure what you’re seeing is legitimate.
