Leeds tech expert shares 'one thing to ALWAYS check before buying Black Friday deal'

Stuart Morris, 43, is a chief technology and product officer and shared things to watch out for ahead of Black Friday.

The expert, who works for the customer due diligence service SmartSearch, said the time pressure to get a good price can lead people to be less diligent with their checks - and some deals are sadly just too good to be true.

Stuart, who works from Ilkley, said some websites or emails are often fake imitating legitimate ones - and you'll end up paying for an item that never arrives.

He advised checking email addresses and website links for unusual characters or different formatting which can indicate it's a scammer imitating the real thing - such as substituting an 'i' for a 'j' or adding a number that looks like a letter.

His top tip is if you find a deal on social media, or sent to you by email appearing to be a large brand such as Amazon or Currys, go onto their app or directly to their website, and see if the deal is available there too, before putting in any details.

Stuart recommended asking yourself questions before going ahead with a purchase - 'have you ordered from this website before?' and 'does this seem too good to be true?'.

He said: "At the first sight of a flashing banner shouting “70% OFF”, ordinarily rational adults begin clicking with the reflexes of a caffeinated pigeon, convinced that the universe has finally decided to reward them with a cut-price television.

"Fraudsters watch this annual softening of the human mind with the quiet satisfaction of farmers approaching harvest.

"The season’s most popular scam is the phantom retailer: glossy websites that appear from nowhere, dripping with miraculous discounts, customer reviews so upbeat they could be written by a motivational speaker, and checkout pages that handle your card details with evident enthusiasm.

"The site vanishes shortly after. The parcel never comes. Your bank card, meanwhile, enjoys a brief but energetic holiday overseas.

"The rule of thumb is painfully simple: if the price makes you feel like you’ve outsmarted capitalism, capitalism is not the one being fooled."

Stuart said flash sale scams - most commonly seen putting customers under pressure by suggesting a limited timeframe, or limited number of items available - often catch out unwitting shoppers over the Black Friday period.

He said the best thing to do is simply slow down - and apply the same diligence you normally would, rather than feeling pressured to rush.

He said: "Often many retailers run the offers all weekend, you might have three or four days. There isn't time pressure.

"Book the time out of your day to analyse it for a moment - and if in doubt, bail out."

He told shoppers to be aware that shops sometimes use Black Friday as an opportunity to clear stock on older models - so you might get a good deal, but on a less advanced version of the product.

While you'll be buying a legitimate product at a cut price, it might not be the model you're expecting - so it's worth checking the t's and c's of the offer if that's something that would affect you.

And a more sophisticated type of scam is sites that aim to take over your account - which can occur if an untrustworthy site gets access to your password when signing up for something.

This is more likely to happen when people put their details into dodgy sites impersonating legitimate ones, while shopping around Black Friday, when they may feel greater pressure to purchase quickly.

Stuart said: "One sloppy password or one overeager click on a suspicious email, and criminals begin their own festive shopping spree using your credentials.

"Here the countermeasure is merely discipline: a strong password, two-factor authentication, and the refusal to believe that any company genuinely needs you to 're-verify your details at once'."

Stuart said ultimately shoppers should take a moment to check that everything looks trustworthy when ordering - and not be rushed into making rash purchases.

He said: "All of this condenses into a single principle so unglamorous it could be printed on a government leaflet: a real bargain can withstand five minutes of scepticism; a scam cannot.

"Black Friday will always tempt people to mistake urgency for opportunity.

"But a moment’s pause - just long enough to ask whether the deal before you represents a stroke of luck or a criminal’s lunch break—can save considerable trouble.

"Fraudsters are not defeated by technology, or enforcement, or vigilance alone. They are defeated by the simple refusal to panic."

STUART’S TOP TIPS TO AVOID BEING CONNED ON BLACK FRIDAY:

* Check email addresses and website links for unusual characters or different formatting such as 'Amaz0n'

* Check social media or email deals are legit by checking them on the app

* Don't rush - the offers last days, not minutes

* Make sure you have a strong password and two-factor authentication on any websites you order from

* Take a moment to check everything before clicking 'buy'

* If in doubt, bail out