Festive Season Shopping - Watch Out for Online Scams!

Police Scotland’s North East Crime Reduction Team are urging everyone to be vigilant against online scams as festive shopping gets underway. Scammers exploit the busy shopping season to target unsuspecting victims. National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) data revealed nearly £13 million was lost to online shopping scams during Christmas 2023, mainly from purchase fraud, where victims are tricked into buying non-existent goods.  It poses such a threat that TSB has warned that from January to October this year, purchase fraud accounted for more than half of all fraud cases at the bank. TSB also found that Facebook accounted for two thirds of all purchase fraud losses and Instagram accounted for one in six.

How Scammers Operate:

Bogus Offers on Black Friday and Christmas promotions create a perfect storm for scammers. While we’ve long relied on poor spelling and grammar to spot scams, the NCSC warns that AI could create more polished communication to phish for your personal or financial information or download malware to your device. With bargain deals bombarding your inbox and social media feeds, it can be hard to weed out the legitimate offers from the scams. 

Be additionally cautious with Black Friday deal emails landing in your inbox – double-check the sender's details and inspect all links before you click on them. Rather than following the link from the email, consider visiting the retailer's website directly as this will help you avoid clicking on any malicious links. 

Spotting that Scam Deal:

Unrealistically low prices, so always check that the price of the item is consistent with other websites.

Suspicious Emails, be wary of emails with unrealistically low prices or from unknown senders. Don't click on links within these emails.

Newly Created Websites, check the website's age and legitimacy. Look for a privacy policy, postal address, and "About Us" page. Use a domain checker to confirm website creation date.

Fake Social Media Accounts, don't be fooled by new social media accounts promoting ‘amazing’ deals and offers.

Payment Methods, only allowing you to pay via bank transfer which offers very limited protection in the event of a scam, so opt for a credit or debit card or PayPal instead

Impersonated URLs, double-check website URLs. Legitimate brands only have one official website.

What to Do if You Spot a Scam:

If you're a victim, contact Your Bank Immediately, call the number on your bank card to report fraudulent activity. Call 101 to report the scam to the police.

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.     Stay Safe and Enjoy a Scam-Free Festive Season!

This messaging system is not for reporting crime as responses are not monitored 24/7.  If you have time-critical information regarding the content of the above message, or if you wish to report any other non-urgent matter, please call 101.  In an emergency, call 999.

Police Scotland's North East Division covers rural and urban areas in Moray, Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City.  The division has five territorial command areas which have their own dedicated Area Commander, who is responsible for the daily policing function.  Each command area is served by a number of community policing teams whose activities are built around the needs of the local community.  These teams respond to local calls and look for long term solutions to key issues.  They are assisted by the division's Crime Reduction Unit who deliver against Force and local priorities in a number of areas, including physical and social crime prevention, supporting and enhancing community engagement and creating and sustaining strong and effective partnership working.