OUFRIDby Imad Oufrid
Security

Black Friday 2026: 7 signs of a fake online shop (and what to do if you've been scammed)

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Check a shop before you buy →

Black Friday 2026 falls on Friday 27 November, but the promotions are already running all month. This is when fake websites and fake sales pages come out: an incredible price, a countdown timer, and the money is gone while the parcel never arrives. This article is for buyers. If you sell online, read our seller's guide to Black Friday 2026 instead.

In short

The 7 signs that should alert you

One sign alone is not enough to condemn a site. Two or three together: stop.

  1. A price too good to be true. A recent smartphone at -70%, a luxury brand at half price: real retailers rarely discount their flagship products like that.
  2. A brand-new domain name, or one that imitates a brand. An extra letter, a hyphen, an unusual extension ("brand-blackfriday.shop"): look at the address before the logo. A domain created a few days ago, just before the sales, is a bad sign. Our domain check tool shows its creation date.
  3. No identity, no contact details. For any distance sale, Law 31-08 requires the seller to give their name, phone number, email and physical address, and where applicable their trade register number and tax identification number (art. 29). A shop that only shows a contact form or a WhatsApp number does not meet these rules.
  4. An unusual payment method. A transfer to a private individual's account, a money transfer service, a gift card, a payment link sent by message: scammers prefer these because the money is hard to recover. A genuine shop offers card payment on a secure page, or cash on delivery.
  5. Fake reviews and artificial urgency. Dozens of 5-star reviews written the same way, an "only 2 left in stock" counter, a timer that starts again when you reload the page. Urgency is there to stop you from thinking.
  6. A sponsored ad with no history. A recently created Facebook or Instagram page, comments turned off or deleted, nothing posted before the campaign. Since 2025, the Moroccan press has described a growing number of fake shops on social media. Check the "Page transparency" section: creation date and name changes.
  7. A form that asks for too much. The HTTPS padlock is essential, but it proves nothing: a fake site can have one too. The real alarm bell is a page that asks for the code you received by SMS, your card PIN or a photo of your ID card for a simple purchase. In April 2026, the DGSSI (Morocco's cybersecurity agency) described a fake site that asked for bank card details and the OTP code.

Check in 2 minutes

Before you pay, take two minutes:

What the law says

For a distance purchase, you have 7 days from receipt to withdraw, without giving a reason or paying a penalty, apart from return costs. This becomes 30 days if the seller has not confirmed its mandatory information to you in writing (art. 36). The seller must refund you within 15 days at the latest (art. 37). Some products are excluded, for example personalised or perishable goods (art. 38).

To be honest: these rights work against a real seller. Against a scammer who has vanished, they do not replace the steps below. This reminder is not legal advice.

You have paid? What to do

  1. Call your bank immediately, using the number on the back of your card or in your app. Block your card if you entered its details on the fake site, and ask how to dispute the transaction.
  2. Keep all the evidence: screenshots of the site and the ad, the exact address (URL), conversations, payment receipt, bank statement.
  3. Make a written complaint to your bank and get an acknowledgement of receipt. According to Bank Al-Maghrib's guide, the bank has 10 working days to say whether the complaint is admissible and 40 working days to reply. If you get no satisfactory answer, go to the Moroccan Centre for Banking Mediation (www.cmmb.ma), which is free, and then to Bank Al-Maghrib as a last resort.
  4. Report the scam on www.e-blagh.ma, the DGSN's platform. Choose the "online fraud" category, a normal or urgent report, then describe what happened: date, link, the seller's username. You can stay anonymous, but as a victim it is better to identify yourself so you can be contacted. The file goes to a judicial police team. To file a complaint, you can also go to a police station or contact the public prosecutor. In an emergency: 19.
  5. Report the page or the ad to the social network, to protect the next people.

Never pay anyone who promises to "get your money back": it is often a second scam.

Cash on delivery: real protection, with limits

In Morocco, 83.8% of online shoppers pay cash on delivery (ANRT, 2023 data). It protects you well against the worst case: a site that takes your money and delivers nothing. But it has limits. The parcel may contain a counterfeit or a product different from the photo, and once the courier is paid, getting the money back is hard. Also be wary of a "cash on delivery shop" that suddenly asks for a deposit or "delivery fees" through a link. If the courier allows it, check the contents in front of them before paying. If in doubt, refuse the parcel.

Sources

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