In addition to social media, scammers will also use email and texts to lure the unwary (Image: GETTY)
January is a traditional period of sales, attracting bargain hunters all over the UK looking for a great deal on that sought after item. But scammers can see us coming. It’s becoming a minefield out there, trying to navigate to a genuine bargain amongst all the trickery and scams put our way.
The festive break is over, and for many people, their attention turns to thoughts of bargains to be found in the January sales, that period of legend where people sometimes camp outside Harrods and other stores to grab some marked-down item the second the store opens. Nowadays, of course, a lot of the January sales burst occurs online.
Lurking in the shadows of the internet, scammers see the January sales period as one in which they can catch countless victims. Around the UK, police forces have been warning communities to be wary of scammers, who are out to take advantage of shoppers both in stores and online.
So what should you look out for?
Watch out for fake reviews
When we’re bargain-hunting online, it seems useful to click through to the reviews and see what other customers have to say about a particular product. This makes a lot of sense, but you have to be careful to be sure that the reviews are genuine and not fake. ‘Brushing scams’ have been on the rise, where unscrupulous companies send unwanted products to people and generate fake reviews to raise the profile of an…
