Better Business Bureau Offers 3 Tips for Spotting Black Friday Coupon Scams

Black Friday is awesome, especially for the bargain hunter. Everything is on sale, all stores are offering massive coupons, and you can get a head start on your holiday shopping for little money.

However, when planning out your Black Friday shopping, it’s important to know that it’s common for scams to be floating around.

For example, there was a fake Kohl’s deal that began circling social media, baiting shoppers with a $150 off coupon. Additionally a fake $200 coupon for Kroger’s has also made its Facebook rounds, among many others.

But the BBB says it’s obvious why these are scams—and why many other offers are too. These deals, among many others, follow a very similar pattern—ones that scream “scam.”

Scammers first create websites and social media pages that look very similar to the real store’s page. They then ask users to share a website link or social media post on their page, which helps scammers get even more people to fall for it, since it’s coming from a reliable source—their friend or family member.

These users who share the link or post will then have to fill out a survey of sorts to claim their offer, which scammers set up to grab your personal information, like your email, address, phone number, etc.

After you fill out the survey, users then realize they have to purchase a number of costly goods, services, or subscriptions before being eligible to get their coupon or gift card, whatever it may be. Say it with us now: Scam!

Thankfully, the Better Business Bureau offered a few tips for how to spot these. Here are the tips:

  1. Don’t believe what you see.

    “It’s easy to steal the colors, logos and header of an established organization. Scammers can also make links look like they lead to legitimate websites and emails appear to come from a different sender.”

  2. Don’t give your credit card info ever.

    “Legitimate businesses do not ask for credit card numbers or banking information on customer surveys. If they do ask for personal information, like an address or email, be sure there’s a link to their privacy policy.”

  3. Watch out for a reward that’s too good to be true.

    “If the survey is real, you may be entered in a drawing to win a gift card or receive a small discount off your next purchase. Few businesses can afford to give away $50 gift cards for completing a few questions.”

Have you ever run into a Black Friday scam before? How will you prevent yourself and others from falling for these fake deals?