Black Friday fraud warning as retailers plan 'special offer' text messages

his year's Black Friday shopping bonanza is set to be the most fraudulent on record as retailers are planning to bombard consumers with 40 million texts.

Today Action Fraud is warning shoppers to avoid clicking on links in shopping-related SMS and Whatsapp messages, over fears that criminals are jumping on a boom in legitimate "special offer" texts to steal people's details.

Shoppers will receive twice as many text messages as last year notifying them of special offers in store, with the total number rising from 25 million over last year's Christmas period to 40 million this year, according to bulk text message provider Infobip.

This year shops like OA.com and L'Occitaine are sending texts instead of emails to tell shoppers about offers. This is due to a rise in phone shopping, and them realizing that consumers are more likely to open texts than emails.

According to Infobip 95 per cent of text message recipients open them, compared to less than a quarter (23 per cent) of email recipients.

But because they are so effective at grabbing consumers' attention, Barclays has identified text messages the fastest rising communication method being hijacked by criminals to steal money from unsuspecting victims. The bank is also warning that Christmas 2017 will be the UK’s most fraudulent ever for online shoppers.

Ross Martin, Head of Barclays' Cyber Digital Eagles team, said scam texts were so convincing and difficult to tell apart from genuine messages that even policemen had fallen for them. He added that recipients click on 50 per cent of links in scam text messages, which is enough for criminals to install spy wear on their devices and steal their details.

Action Fraud’s DI Chris Felton said: "Black Friday is a prime opportunity for fraudsters to target shoppers looking for deals on Christmas presents. We have recently seen a spike in reporting of Whatsapp supermarket voucher scams so people should be cautious about Black Friday deals they receive in a Whatsapp message.

“We urge people to never click on unsolicited links in messages, even if they appear to come from a trusted contact. Also clear your browsing history and cookies. Fraudsters may have installed cookies on your phone that track you, or add browser extensions that can be used to show you advertisements. If you believe you have fallen victim to fraud, please report it to us.”

Harry Rose, Which? Money Editor, said: "Consumers must be extra vigilant this Black Friday and think twice before clicking on the link in any unsolicited messages."

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