Black Friday scams: how to spot a fake deal before you pay

Black Friday is on Friday 27 November 2026, and Cyber Monday follows on 30 November. Fake deal sites go up weeks before, and scam adverts, emails and texts copy the shops you know. Paste a deal’s link below to see where it really goes before you pay.

By Avinash Jetwani · Updated 9 November 2026 · 4 min read

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Quick answer

How do I avoid Black Friday scams?

Go to the shop yourself by typing its address or opening its app, rather than tapping a deal in an advert, email or text. Paste a deal’s link into Peekray to see where it really goes, whether it’s on public phishing and malware lists and whether the site was registered in the last 30 days. Be wary of huge discounts from a shop you don’t know, countdown timers and requests to pay by bank transfer. Pay by credit card if you can: for a single item over £100 and up to £30,000, Section 75 lets you claim from the card company if it never arrives.

Check one now

Paste the deal’s link

Paste the link from the advert, email or text, or the whole message. Peekray shows where each link really goes, flags sites registered in the last 30 days and addresses pretending to be a big name such as PayPal, Royal Mail or a bank, and gives a clear answer such as Safe, Check first or Scam.

A clean result means no warning signs, not that the shop will deliver. Do the checks below too before you pay a shop you don’t know.

or type or paste it here

Only the web addresses are sent for checking. Screenshots and who sent it are read on your device, and our server never reads or keeps the rest of your message.

Got a QR code?

Check it before you open it. The code is read in your browser, and only a web address in it is sent for checking.

Spot it

Four ways Black Friday scams reach you

  1. 01

    Fake deal websites

    Copies of real shops, or shops that never existed, set up for the sales with logos and product photos taken from real brands. Many are only weeks old, and Peekray flags a site registered in the last 30 days.

    Check a shop

  2. 02

    Adverts on social media

    Huge discounts or free items in adverts, sometimes with AI-made pictures or videos. Lloyds Bank says more than 70% of the purchase scams its customers report happen on Meta-owned platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

  3. 03

    Emails that copy a shop

    Unexpected offers, giveaways and surveys dressed up as a big shop, leading to a page that asks for your card or account details.

    Check an email

  4. 04

    Deal texts and delivery texts

    Texts with a Black Friday offer and a link, and fake delivery texts sent while you’re waiting for your orders.

    Parcel texts

In numbers

Why it’s worth two minutes

Before you pay

Five checks before you buy a deal

  1. 1

    Go to the shop yourself

    Type the shop’s address or open its app, and look for the deal there. Don’t tap a deal in an advert, email or text.

  2. 2

    Check a shop you don’t know

    Paste its link into Peekray, look the company up on Companies House and read recent reviews on independent sites.

    How to check a shop
  3. 3

    Check out as a guest

    If you can, buy without making an account, and don’t let the site keep your card details.

  4. 4

    Pay by credit card

    For a single item costing more than £100 and up to £30,000, Section 75 lets you claim from the card company if the goods never arrive. Never pay a shop you don’t know by bank transfer.

  5. 5

    Turn on 2-step verification

    On your email and shopping accounts, so a stolen password isn’t enough to get in.

Paid already?

Paid for a deal that now looks fake?

  1. 1

    Call your bank now on the number on the back of your card. In the UK you can also dial 159 to reach your bank safely.

  2. 2

    If you typed a password into the site, change it now on the real site or app, and anywhere else you use it.

  3. 3

    If the goods never came, ask your card company about Section 75 or chargeback, or open a PayPal dispute.

  4. 4

    Report the site (see below), and keep screenshots of the deal, the order and any emails.

Clicked a scam link? What to do now Christmas scams

Report it

Where to report it

In the UK

A fake shop website
Report it to the National Cyber Security Centre, which investigates scam websites.
A scam text with the link
Forward it to 7726. It’s free.
A scam email with the link
Forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk.
A scam advert
Report it to the Advertising Standards Authority.
Lost money
Tell your bank, then report it to Report Fraud at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040 (England, Wales and Northern Ireland). In Scotland, call Police Scotland on 101.

Let Peekray do it

Check the next deal before you pay.

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FAQ

Common questions

When is Black Friday 2026?

Friday 27 November 2026, with Cyber Monday on 30 November. Many shops run deals for most of November, and fake deal sites go up weeks before: Check Point counted 158 new Black Friday-themed web addresses in October 2025 alone, and about 1 in 11 of the new ones it saw was malicious.

Is a deal from a shop I’ve never heard of a scam?

Not always: real shops run Black Friday deals too. But fake shops are busiest around the sales, so check a shop you don’t know before you pay, and pay by credit card if you go ahead.

Is a Black Friday text or email from a big shop real?

It might be, but don’t tap the link to find out. Open the shop’s app or type its address, and see if the same deal is there. You can paste the message into Peekray to see where its link really goes.

Does Peekray check that a shop will deliver?

No. Peekray checks the link: where it really goes, whether it’s on public phishing and malware lists, whether the address pretends to be a big name, and how new the site is. A shop can pass all of that and still not deliver, so pay by credit card and use the checks on this page.

Sources

Where this advice comes from

How it’s checked

How we check these guides

The advice here is checked against the sources above, and the scam messages in the examples are made up. Guides are drafted and fact-checked with the help of AI, claim by claim against those sources, before they’re published. This guide is by Avinash Jetwani, who makes Peekray. Spotted a mistake? Email hello@peekray.com.

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