Black Friday 2025
How to stay safe this Black Friday
As Black Friday approaches, we want to ensure you can shop with confidence. Fraudsters often target this busy season, using increasingly sophisticated tactics to exploit online activity.
Last year, over £12.9 million was lost to online shopping scams, with more than 16,000 reports made to Action Fraud. Social media was a major risk area, too, with Facebook accounting for two-thirds of purchase fraud losses.
Digital scams continue to evolve at pace — and in 2025, they’re more convincing than ever. Criminals are using AI to craft realistic phishing emails, clone trusted websites and send personalised messages that appear to come from retailers, delivery companies or even banks.
These scams are designed to trick you into clicking malicious links, sharing sensitive information or making payments to fraudsters.
Common Black Friday scams include:
- Fake retail websites and ‘too good to be true’ discounts — convincing sites offering luxury goods at huge discounts.
- AI-generated phishing emails and texts — impersonating trusted retailers with fake discount codes or missed parcel notifications.
- Social media ads and marketplace scams — fraudsters lure victims into paying for goods that never arrive.
- Counterfeit gift cards — offers to ‘pre-load’ funds onto gift cards at discounted prices.
- QR code phishing — scanning a code leads to a fake login or payment page.
How to spot a scam:
- Urgent or threatening language — ‘Your account will be suspended’ or ‘Act now’ are common tactics.
- Suspicious sender details — Check email addresses and phone numbers carefully.
- Unusual links or attachments — Hover over links before clicking; if the URL looks odd or unfamiliar, don’t click.
- Requests for personal or financial information — Legitimate organisations will never ask for passwords, PINs or full card details via email or SMS.
- Poor grammar or formatting — Spelling mistakes and inconsistent branding are red flags.
- Unsecure or cloned websites — A padlock icon doesn’t guarantee safety; always check the full URL.
- Unusual payment methods — Be cautious if asked to pay via bank transfer, cryptocurrency or to a personal account.
Important reminder
Fraudsters often follow up with convincing calls, sometimes claiming to be from Weatherbys, and may reference earlier scams to build trust. These calls can sound genuine — but they are designed to trick you into giving away sensitive details.
Weatherbys will never ask you for:
- One-time passcodes (OTPs) — These codes protect your accounts. Never share them with anyone, even if the caller claims to be from Weatherbys.
- Your online banking password.
- Your full card details.
Weatherbys will also never ask you to move money to a ‘safe account’.
If you are ever unsure of the legitimacy of any link, website, company, advert, email or text you come across, please feel free to ask us to take a look by sending it to fraud@weatherbys.bank, or by asking your relationship manager to forward it to us.
If you think you have been a victim of any type of scam, please speak to your private banking team or relationship manager in the first instance. You can also contact the Private Bank on +44 (0) 1933 543 600 or the Racing Bank on +44 (0) 1933 543 543.