Black Friday has become a trend over the last five years in the UK and there has been a sharp increase in cyber crime.
Black Friday is a day that originated in the United States as part of Thanks Giving Celebrations.
Discounted deals in stores and online from thousands of different companies in the United Kingdom are prominent and more recently, Cyber Monday has been introduced with many more online deals.
This year, there have been questions arising around the reality of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals and issues around the safety of online shopping.
Consumer group Which? has found that Black Friday may not be the best time of the year to get the deals that people are being bombarded with in the run up to the day.
Which? has tracked prices of products in different retailers over the last year and found that most of the products are cheaper at other times of the year.
The rise of online shopping – also known as e-commerce – has been a threat to many people in the country over the last five years.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), over 230,000 online fraud offences have been committed in England between June 2017 and July 2018.
Over 3,000 of those offences were committed in Lincolnshire.
In the run up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Lincolnshire Police are using their Police Cyber Protect Twitter page to give tips on how to stay safe while shopping online.
Each day this week, the Lincolnshire Police Cyber Protect Twitter page is posting two videos containing tips on how not to be an “easy target for cyber criminals” on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Some of these tips include paying by credit card and to keep devices updated to the latest software.
Martin Lewis, Founder and Chair of MoneySavingExpert.com is giving advice to people nationally on how not to spend too much money on Black Friday via his website.
MoneySavingExpert.com says: “Only ever buy what you can afford and always compare prices to check it’s the best deal.”
You can keep up to date with Lincolnshire Police’s top tips at @CyberLincs on Twitter.
