A 50% off television, a discounted smartphone or a cheap sweater: it's a period of discounts that can be very desirable when the wallet is less full and the Christmas holidays are approaching. Black Friday (black Friday, in French), commercial operation from the United States during which prices are slashedis taking place all over the world at the end of November in stores and on websites. “Nearly 60% of French consumers” will benefit from it, according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), cited by AFP.
Except that some have smelled the seam and are taking advantage of the high demand to defraud consumers on online platforms. What are the most common scams? How to avoid them? France Bleu helps you see things more clearly.
Sometimes misleading promotions
On websites, promotions can lead you to think that you are going to get a good deal. Some platforms, for example, display a coffee machine at 59.99 euros instead of 89.99 euros, the base price. The offer is really attractive. Except that before this promotion, this machine was already at 59.99 euros. A good deal is not a good deal!
UFC What to Choose has listed several false promotions like these: a washing machine at 599 euros which was already at this price during the 30 days before the commercial operation on the Boulanger site, or a Tefal oil-free fryer at Rakuten which goes from 99 .99 euros… at 99.99 euros. Other misleading promotions have been identified at Conforama, Darty and CDiscount. How to avoid being fooled? On France Bleu Alsacethe co-director of the department's Consumer Chamber advises comparing reductions with the prices offered by the brand over the last 30 days and not with the average market price. But for that, you must have spotted the product for a few weeks already.
Furthermore, the base price of a product should always be mentioned so that you can compare. If not, be wary of this discount.
Fake websites
Pendant le Black Friday, “fake websites riddled with imaginary promotions are emerging”noted UFC-Que Choisir. These ads which promise you superb discounts always end up the same: “You will not receive the ordered productalerts the association, and you “will never see the money spent again”. The UFC Que Choisir therefore recommends favoring secure sites, whose address begins with “https” and includes a padlock, and preferably French. “If you are dealing with a seller not based in France, a complaint will be a real obstacle course, with slim chances of success,” underlines the consumer association.
Also be wary of imitations of known addresses (for example, “amaazon” instead of Amazon), reminds the team of“HERE, from 5am” on France Bleu. “Such a modification is not necessarily noticeable without careful reading”adds UFC Que Choisir.
On a site, “you have to scroll down the page and look for two pieces of informationalso explains Driss El Hilali, lawyer at UFC Que Choisir. Legal notices or general conditions of sale. Normally, the name of the company and its status should appear. If you can't find them, this is a site to avoid.”alerts the specialist on France Bleu Occitanie. You can also type the name of the site you are suspicious of followed by “company.com” into a search engine. This is a good way to check the status, management of the company and its solvency, for example.
Countdowns that push you to buy
But getting scammed can happen very quickly. Online platforms try to rush you into buying and push you to make mistakes. Some use several techniques such as limited stock (“There are only two items left”) or the countdown which assures you that this promotion will disappear in 30 minutes. “We encourage you to go very quickly because there are not many left. This rush, which is very marked on Black Friday, makes us do everything and anything,” annoys Fritz Fernandez, the co-director of the Alsace Consumer Chamber. This counter is very often a decoy.
Beware of phishing
When you try to avoid scams, they sometimes come directly to you via SMS or in your email inbox. This is called phishing. “Under (the false) pretext of a good deal, a gift to receive, a competition, a package to be delivered to you… as part of Black Friday, you will be asked to provide your personal information (identity, address, bank details)”details UFC Que Choisir. The consequences can be terrible as identity theft or purchases without your knowledge. “Emails or text messages can be sent in bulk and personalized in a short time, voices can be imitated, fake images larger than life can be broadcast”alerts the association.
