Online shopping on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Halloween sales are considered the best opportunities to get digital resources at a minimum price. But what if I told you these deals might not be as amazing as they seem?
Believe it or not, many times, digital resources like hosting and domains advertised as “Lifetime” offers are scams. I’ve fallen for these scams before (at the beginning of my blogging journey), so I’m here to help you.
This guide will guide you on how you can avoid the red flags for Cyber Monday and the best Black Friday deals.
Let’s make sure you don’t get tricked like I did!
8 Common Black Friday and Cyber Monday Scams in 2023
Before we go further, I want to clarify one thing: not all black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are scams. However, some might be, and they’re the ones that offer “lucrative benefits” that are too good to be true. To help you avoid falling into these traps, I’ll highlight the most common red flags deals to watch out for:
1. Cloud Hosting Deals – Black Friday Web Hosting Deals 2023
The number one scamming deal of the shopping season is the cloud hosting deals. New hosting companies offer “unlimited space” with cheap hosting plans. People buy these deals because they usually have a big discount, but little do they know the “unlimited” word is just a marketing trick.
After a few months, you’ll discover the hosting company has specifications for space and visitors. Once you hit those limits, you’ll be asked to upgrade to a more expensive plan to keep your website running smoothly.
2. Lifetime SEO Service
Remember, SEO isn’t a cheap skill; if you check the marketplaces, you’ll realize experts charge hundreds of dollars monthly for website SEO. So think to yourself: how can someone provide you with a “lifetime” SEO service in a cheap package?
This type of deal is mostly offered by scammers. There are two likely scenarios: first, they take your money and disappear. Second, they might mess with your website (steal your website info, upload malicious files), leading to potential security issues.
3. Stock Photo Subscription – Download Unlimited Photos
Anything with a “Lifetime” tag is mostly fake, like the Stock Photo subscription. Many will offer you an account with unlimited credits to download visuals. Unfortunately, it’s also a scam!
Most of the time, these offers are made to attract the customers. The marketing team knows once a person is used to a specific website, they’ll buy the credits again. So first, they’ll offer you an account with unlimited credit. Once they get the money, they’ll tell you to buy their add-on if you want to exceed the limit of downloading pictures.
4. Unlimited Storage Scam
Video editors and photo editors need big storage to save client work. For this purpose, they purchase storage, which isn’t a problem. However, you’ll probably get scammed if you purchase the “unlimited storage” account from Cyber Money, Black Friday, or any holiday shopping season deals and discounts.
No one can offer unlimited storage because companies have to spend money on servers for storage. So, to avoid being a victim, stay away from these types of deals.
5. $1 Domain Fraud
The average domain cost is between $6 to $15 per year, depending upon the TLD. However, I’ve seen many new domain registrar services offering $1 domain on Cyber Monday, Halloween, or Black Friday – don’t forget all of these are scams.
Yes, they’ll sell you the domain for $1 for the first year, but the price for the second year will be double the average domain price. Also, you won’t be able to transfer the domain to another service like Namecheap or GoDaddy until you pay the fee they want.
6. WordPress Themes & Plugins
Just like others, you’ll also find Lifetime deals (LTD) WordPress themes and plugins on days like Black Friday or Cyber Monday. These themes and plugins work well in the first few months.
After a few months, you might suddenly find yourself unable to log in because of the restriction of sites. Many of these “lifetime deals” have a restriction on how many websites you can use with the plugin or theme. If you want to use the theme or plugin on other sites, you’ve to buy another plan.
7. Social Media Automation Tools
Social Media Automation tools are essential for the social media marketing team. Often, social media managers purchase these tools in the Black Friday or Cyber Monday sale. They worked perfectly fine, but there’s a catch. You won’t be able to manage more than three to four accounts.
Hence, there’s no way they’ll work for you because, as a social media manager, you may need to handle multiple accounts of clients. If you want to manage more accounts, you’ve to buy the add-on or upgrade the package.
8. AI Writing Tools
AI writing tools are in trend nowadays. With this increase in demand, there comes the scamming deals. These deals usually consist of AI writing tools with “unlimited credits” or “lifetime subscriptions,” which seems amazing at first, but they’re just a fraud. The biggest example is “Bramework“, which offers a lifetime plan on AppSumo, but now they’re shutting down.
4 Safety Tips for Black Friday Spending, Cyber Monday & Halloween Sale
Here are the 4 safety tips that you can follow to avoid fraudsters. These tips include a general guideline that outlines the precautions to follow if you want to make an online purchase.
1. Avoid Unknown Retailers
The biggest mistake to avoid is never to purchase digital assets from unknown retailers. If you’re purchasing a tool from a website, make sure to check the name separately on Google to find out what others say about the services. If the retailer is new, there won’t be any info about the digital resources and the website. In that case, there’s a high chance the seller might be fraudulent.
2. Too Good to Be True Deals Are Online Scams
Deals that are too good to be true are mostly offered by scammers. If you want to avoid these deals, do some extra research; this will protect your hard-earned money. Check the terms of conditions of the deal that might be written on the Saas website. If you think the conditions are fine, buy the deal. Otherwise, it’s best to avoid it.
3. Check Website & Social Media Pages
There are a few things you should always look at. For example, whether the seller or the Saas website has social media accounts. If yes, you can check the profile or pages. Usually, older profiles and pages mean they belong to genuine people, while newer ones might be linked to scammers. Also, in older profiles or pages, you might find reviews from other people who have bought similar tool deals.
4. Be Aware of Phishing
Another famous type of online scam on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or usually all holiday sales I’ve seen is scammers not only scam you with money but also steal your data. Remember your password, debit card and credit card number, and other personal details can be sold into the dark web easily. So, be cautious when buying online; only trust established websites. Never share personal info on new sites without confirming their credibility.
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Final Words
Hopefully, you’ve got an idea of what deals can ruin your online shopping experience on days like Black Friday or Halloween. I’m saying you shouldn’t buy anything these days; just make sure the Saas website you’re selecting for making a purchase is trustworthy. Otherwise, you might end up losing your money as well as personal data.
