Faced with more and more scams, vigilance is required. A cybersecurity expert company warns of a high risk of scam within a few weeks.
When making a purchase, many French people have the reflex to look if there is not a good deal that would allow them to make some savings, whether it is a promotion, a reduction or a second-hand purchase. This is a great thing for their wallet, but you also need to be vigilant so as not to fall into the trap of a fake good deal or, worse, a scam.
You should be especially careful when shopping online, as cyber threats are ever-increasing, constantly reinventing themselves to take on new forms. And some get fooled by sharing their personal data to get a promo code, buying on unknown sites, clicking on an ad or a tempting email, etc. The risk is even greater at certain times of the year. Norton, a company specializing in cybersecurity for the general public, is warning of the fact that a risk of scam awaits consumers towards the end of November. According to a survey carried out by Dynata among 1,001 adults aged 18 or over between July 31 and August 12, 2025, people who have already been victims suffered an average loss of 344.94 euros. In the most serious cases, the amount swindled has even reached 5,000 euros!
The scams responsible for these damages appear at a certain period: the end-of-year holidays, and more particularly Black Friday (which falls on November 28, 2025), during which many people buy their Christmas gifts to save money. Thus, 22% of consumers have already been targeted by a scam during a previous holiday season. 56% were victims and 31% indicated that it happened during “Black Friday”. Scammers reached them mainly by email (35%), third-party sites (34%), SMS (33%) or online advertisements (25%).
How can we explain an upsurge in scams during this period? Well, first of all, scammers know that people are going to be on the lookout for deals, so they create traps to lure them in. At the same time, 22% of buyers recognize that they adopt riskier behaviors than usual when making purchases on the Internet during the end-of-year holidays or Black Friday and Cyber Monday. “Scammers mainly rely on stress, confusion and emotional decisions. The holiday season often offers them all three conditions. Cybercriminals don’t wait for you to make a mistake, but rely on you to be distracted and in a hurry. And as soon as you let your guard down for a moment, they are ready to take action with ever more scams sophisticated”explains Leyla Bilge, director of the scam research laboratory at Norton, in a press release.
