Black Friday sales will soon have shoppers in a festive frenzy, but not for the reasons many would expect. With more than £11.5m being lost to fraud during the Christmas period last year, scammers are increasingly capitalising on the seasonal spike in online sales to con consumers. With labels such as ‘Hack Friday’ and ‘Black Fraud Day’ growing in popularity, all must remain vigilant against online scams.

With AI being leveraged to make bogus retailer websites, fake offers on social media and scam emails appear even more convincing, consumers must keep a sceptical eye. You need to place the same level of importance on your digital identity as your in-person one – you wouldn’t hand over sensitive information to a stranger, so the same ethos should be applied online.

Processes like multi-factor authentication, one-time passcodes from banks to authorise larger transactions, and complex login passwords all help to maintain identity security. Look over any online interaction with caution and create unique passwords for each online shopping account. Taking this step can help you to avoid a stolen password, which could otherwise be exploited to gain unauthorised access to other applications.