The sales season creates unique conditions for scammers, and the reason is not that people become less attentive. The reason is that the usual sign of fraud stops working.

Why Protection Does Not Work During This Period

In normal times, urgency is one of the most reliable markers of fraud, meaning that a message saying that an offer is valid for two hours and that only three spots are left should automatically make you suspicious. During sales, such urgency is normal, since limited time and limited quantity are built into the format of the event itself. The same applies to a low price. Usually, a product that is twice as cheap as the market price is a signal, while during the discount season it looks expected. That is, the two main filters people use every day stop working in November, and this is exactly what the calculation is based on.

Because of this, other verification criteria are needed during this period, and that is exactly what follows.

What Schemes Work

Copies of well-known stores. Scammers create websites that look similar to popular online stores and marketplaces, with good product photos, quick responses to inquiries, and fake positive customer reviews.

Phishing links that imitate marketplace pages and are designed to obtain bank card details.

Non-delivery of goods remains the most common scheme overall, meaning that they take the money but do not send the parcel.

Super-discount advertising on social media that leads to a page created a few days ago.

Messages in messengers and by email about personal discounts, prizes, and bonuses with a link to receive them.

Two Free Services Worth Using

This is the most practical part of the material, and these are exactly the tools that most people do not know about.

The Cyber Police has a website verification service called STOP FRAUD, located at cyberpolice.gov.ua in the relevant section. The EMA Association has a link verification service called CheckMyLink at check.ema.com.ua. Both are free, and the verification takes a few seconds.

There is also an important warning from the Cyber Police itself that is worth taking into account. A scheme may be completely new or well hidden, so in addition to checking with these services, you need to conduct your own verification, meaning read reviews about the seller and find out the store's history of operation. That is, a clean verification result means that the website has not yet been added to the database, not that it is reliable.

How to Check a Store Yourself

Look carefully at the website address, since fake resources have similar but not identical names, and the difference may be one letter, an extra word, or a different domain zone.

Check whether the website contains complete details, meaning the name of the legal entity or entrepreneur with its code, address, and contact information. Their absence contradicts the requirements for electronic commerce.

Check this code in the state register, and I wrote separately about the procedure for such a check.

Find reviews outside the website itself, since on their own resource they publish only what is beneficial to them.

Check how many years the website has existed, since a store created in October does not deserve trust before a November sale. Call the number provided, because the absence of communication is indicative. Compare the price with several other platforms, and if it differs several times without an explanation of the reason, the issue is not the discount.

How to Pay

This is the second part of protection, which works regardless of whether you managed to recognize the scammer.

Use cash on delivery, meaning payment upon receipt with the possibility of inspection, wherever possible. Do not transfer money to an individual's card, since a legal store accepts payment into a company account or through a payment system. Get a separate card for online purchases and keep only the necessary amount on it, since this turns protection from attentiveness into a mechanism. Do not enter card details on a page that opened from a link in a message, and always go to the store's website yourself. Never tell anyone the code from an SMS, since it is needed for a charge, not for receiving a discount. Save screenshots of the product page, payment confirmation, and correspondence until you receive the parcel.

About Charitable Fundraising

A separate Ukrainian category that becomes active especially before the holidays. Scammers create fake fundraisers to support the military, for children's treatment, and to help victims, copying the design of real initiatives. Verification here consists of going to the original source, meaning finding the official page of the foundation or volunteer, rather than following a link from a repost.

Check whether the organization is listed in the register of non-profit organizations, look at its reporting history, and whether the results of previous fundraisers are published. Be suspicious if the transfer details are an individual's card with no explanation of who this person is and what connection they have to the fundraiser.

If You Have Already Paid

Immediately call the bank using the number on the card and block it, since with a quick response, a transfer can sometimes be stopped. Do not follow any links that promise a refund, since this is a continuation of the scheme. Change your passwords if you entered your details on a fake page. Save all evidence, meaning screenshots, links, payment details, time, and amount. File a report with the Cyber Police through the official website or call 102. Report the fake website to the verification service, since this helps the next people.


Sources

Department of Cyber Police of the National Police of Ukraine, EMA Association, Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Ukrinform