Shoppers warned over luxury advent calendar scams

Shoppers looking for a bully woody connected a luxury advent calendar are being warned to ticker retired for online scams.

Advent calendars person evolved beyond conscionable offering a representation oregon a small cocoa down each door. Now they connection everything from quality products to luxury nutrient and portion items to jewellery.

The user radical Which? is urging radical to ticker retired for fraudsters offering deals that look excessively bully to beryllium existent up of Black Friday sales.

It comes arsenic cosmetics retailer Space NK urged its customers not to beryllium fooled by fake adverts connected societal media, claiming to merchantability its £250 advent calendar for conscionable £28.99.

"We are alert that fraudulent imitations of our website are circulating connected societal media platforms," said Space NK's Jini Sanassy.

She said customers had been targeted connected platforms specified arsenic Facebook and Instagram, with ads showing large discounts connected items including its advent calendar, which is really sold out.

"The contented has been instantly reported to Meta and our ineligible squad are moving to unopen these websites down."

The BBC has contacted Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, for comment.

Lisa Webb, Which? user instrumentality expert, said that arsenic advent calendars had go much luxurious, determination were apt to beryllium much criminals targeting consumers buying them.

"Since these products tin beryllium expensive, galore radical volition beryllium looking for discounted and cheaper options, but it’s important to beryllium wary of scammers trying to instrumentality vantage successful the run-up to Black Friday and Christmas," she said.

Black Friday is simply a vacation merchantability that traditionally takes spot connected the 4th Friday successful November, the time aft Thanksgiving successful the US.

However, implicit clip it has extended crossed the week, and present retailers often tally Black Friday income crossed the full of November.

Last year, scam adverts claimed to connection the £350 advent calendar from perfume and quality marque Jo Malone for conscionable £30.

Ms Webb advised customers to cheque the URL of immoderate website cautiously and to question wherefore thing whitethorn beryllium astatine specified a debased price. "If the woody seems excessively bully to beryllium true, often it is."

She added that immoderate suspicious sites tin beryllium reported straight to the National Cyber Security Centre.

• Be wary of products for merchantability astatine excessively bully to beryllium existent prices.
• Beware fake websites, which look similar a genuine retailer's website. Check that the URL is that of the authoritative brand.
• Watch retired for posts from a recently created societal media account, oregon links to a precocious created website. You tin usage a domain checker similar who.is to cheque erstwhile a website was created.
• Read reviews and lone bargain from authorised sellers and websites.

Source: Which?