Black Friday 2026: FTC scam rules you can use at checkout

FTC checkout rules (use these verbatim habits)

• Research: before you buy, search the seller’s name and the destination URL with words like “review,” “complaint,” or “scam.”
• Pay by credit card when possible so you can dispute missing, wrong or defective goods.
• Never pay sellers who insist on gift cards, wire transfers (e.g. Western Union/MoneyGram), payment apps only, or cryptocurrency—FTC treats those demands as scam signals.
• Keep receipts and order confirmation numbers.
• Sellers must ship by the time they advertise, or within 30 days if no time was promised—or give a refund path.
• Report problems at ReportFraud.ftc.gov; identity theft help is at IdentityTheft.gov.

Social ads and lookalike checkouts

FTC holiday alerts note scammers impersonate brands with unusually low prices. Prefer a bookmarked official site/app. An https URL does not prove legitimacy.

Price sanity check

• Compare the same model number on two or three known retailers.
• If the price is far below every trusted seller, pause—counterfeits and non-delivery scams use urgency.
• Watch marketplace third-party sellers mixed into big-brand search results.

In-store

Photograph your parking row, keep bags zipped in dense queues, and leave if pushing or blocking exits starts. No doorbuster is worth injury.

2026 date pointer

Black Friday 2026 is Friday, 27 November (day after Thanksgiving Thursday, 26 November).

Last verified 2026-10-15 against the sources listed below.