Shoppers urged to protect themselves online this Black Friday

Black Friday shoppers have been urged to watch out for online scams after new figures revealed rising losses to scammers during the festive shopping season.

According to GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and Action Fraud, Brits reported losing over £11.5m to online criminals between November 2023 and January 2024 – with each victim losing £695 on average.

This compares to reported losses amounting to £10.6m the previous year. Clothing, high-end tech products and even cars were among the products featuring in scams.

The new figures were published earlier this week, on the same day as the NCSC launched a nationwide campaign, as part of Stop! Think Fraud, to encourage people to set-up 2-step verification on their most important accounts.

The latest figures, which come from reports made to Action Fraud and analysed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB), revealed that 7,168 reports (43%) mentioned a social media platform, with online marketplaces being mentioned in 18.9% of reports.

The figures also revealed that those aged 30-39 submitted the largest number of reports (23%), closely followed by 40–49-year-olds (20%). The average age of victims was 42.

“As we head into the holiday shopping season, people are understandably eager to find the best deals online.

“Unfortunately, this is also prime time for cyber criminals, who exploit bargain hunters with increasingly sophisticated scams – sometimes crafted using AI – making them harder to detect.

“To stay protected, I strongly recommend following our online shopping guidance, including setting up 2-step verification and creating memorable but secure passwords using three random words.”

Richard Horne, NCSC CEO

For more information on how to protect yourself, search for “Stop! Think Fraud”.

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