The Black Friday season is currently reaching its peak and you can find countless discounts at all kinds of online shops. You can do thisshoot, but that also means: There are even more fraudsters that you can fall for.
We have 3 simple tips on how to recognize treacherous codes and protect yourself from scams.
Only trust sources you know
This statement basically applies to everything.
- Websites
- E-Mails
- Social-Media-Posts
A simple trick always helps if you are not sure whether an offer is real or not.
Look at the URL and spelling of the page.Let's take gamestar.de as an example, but this applies to absolutely every well-known shop and website out there.
- The page name is misspelled: “gamestr.de” will not lead you to the most popular gaming site in Germany, but will probably lead you to a scam.
- The URL is written differently: If a link to supposed deals on GameStar redirects you to the website “game-star.de”, then it is not our address. It helps to quickly surf to the page to which the link should redirect and check the spelling.
- The ending is different:As a German website, the ending of GameStar is “.de”. If a link leads to “gamestar.com”, “gamestar.gg” or “gamestar.org”, then you will not be redirected to us.
Of course, there are also small shops in the vastness of the Internet that have good offers and that you don't know about. In this case, check whether you can find reviews online about the site in question.Trust pilotis a good place to start. If they are bad (or not available at all because the site doesn't exist), it's best to leave them alone.
The common rule for email and social media posts is:Don't click on what you don't know. If you come across an email or post that seems genuine, then check the relevant page or provider manually and see if you can find the discount there, because discounts are not distributed secretly.
Never sign up for discount codes anywhere
This is probably the best tip, because if possible criminals don't have your data, they can't do any mischief with it.
If you have to register somewhere for possible discountsto see them, then there is usually nothing good behind them. Therefore, handle your personal data carefully.
What happens if you do?Then you will be the target of spam emails and spam calls - or your credit card will be charged if you have given it to dubious sites.
Browser extensions can pose risks
Budget hunters probably always have an add-on running in their browser that saves them a few euros here and there. These include Honey and Rakuten.
In and of themselves, these browser extensions are harmless (), but they can pose risks. ExpressVPN has investigated some providers.
- Honey: The data about purchases made is shared with the parent company PayPal. If you are against collecting your data, you should not use Honey, but nothing dangerous or unfair is happening here.
- Coupert: Similar to Honey, your purchases are monitored and shared with the provider's partners.
- Rakuten: The provider makes no secret of the fact that it collects your data and is more collecting than the other two. If you are sensitive about your data, this extension is not recommended according to ExpressVPN.
Do not install any extensions in your browser that you do not know.The three above are well-known examples, but some add-ons are even more collectible.
If an offer is too good to be true, it usually is. When hunting for bargains, it's best to stick with large suppliers and use deal sites to get an overview. Oh yes, all deals on GameStar are handpicked and safe.
Do you have any other tips on how to protect yourself from scammers? Then feel free to share it with the community in the comments.
