Ahead of Black Friday, experts warn about fake online stores

As Black Friday and Cyber Monday approach, with online shops advertising big discounts, shoppers in Latvia face a risk of landing on sites built by scammers. The warning comes from Marija Briede, a fraud prevention expert at Luminor bank. She explains that advances in artificial intelligence allow fraudsters to create a fake store that resembles the genuine one quickly and cheaply, so buyers find it increasingly difficult to distinguish honest offers from fraudulent ones.

How scammers attract buyers

Fraudsters often imitate well-known brands' stores to obtain buyers' payment details. Ads are placed on social media, and e-mails with large discounts lead to fake shopping sites. Scammers also buy paid ads in search engines so that their sites appear among the first results. A shopper can therefore end up in a fake store even when searching for a familiar brand.

Fake sites use the original stores' logos, product images and similar design. The web address, or domain, can also be nearly identical to the real one: a letter swapped for a digit, an extra word added, or a different domain ending. Scammers also use artificial intelligence to prepare product descriptions, ads and fake customer reviews, in several languages. A professional look, error-free text and believable reviews therefore do not guarantee that a shop is trustworthy.

Possible consequences

After the buyer picks a product and enters card details, the payment looks like in any other shop. The goods most often never arrive, or a cheap counterfeit is sent instead. The card data can be used for unauthorised purchases or sold on the black market for other fraud.

Advice for shoppers

• If a price looks suspiciously low, compare it with other sellers; in many shops discounts start weeks or even a month ahead.
• A demand to pay by bank transfer, especially to a private person's account, can signal fraud.
• Type the shop's official address yourself rather than clicking a link in an e-mail or social media post, and do not rely on the first search result.
• Check the domain carefully, as one extra letter or digit is enough.
• For an unfamiliar shop, read reviews outside its own website.
• Before approving a payment in Smart-ID or another authentication tool, check that the amount and recipient match the intended purchase.