Black Friday is Christmas for fraudsters.

Cybercriminals love BFCM because high transaction volumes provide cover for fraud, overwhelmed businesses miss warning signs, and deal-hunting customers are less cautious about suspicious offers.

Is your business ready for heightened fraud during Black Friday?

What you’ll learn in this lesson:

• BFCM-specific security threats that target holiday shoppers and businesses
• Essential security measures that protect without killing conversions
• Fraud detection basics that identify suspicious activity while serving legitimate customers
• Team protocols for handling security issues during peak periods
• Customer communication strategies that build trust during security incidents

By the end of this lesson, you’ll have practical security protocols that protect your business and customers during BFCM’s elevated risk period.

Black Friday security threats

Black Friday creates unique vulnerabilities that criminals exploit systematically. Understanding these threats helps you recognize and prevent attacks before they damage your business. Let’s cover some of the most common threats you should be aware of.

• Phishing Gets More Sophisticated: Criminals create fake promotional emails that perfectly mimic legitimate brands, knowing customers expect to receive offers from unfamiliar businesses during BFCM. They exploit gift-giving urgency and deadline pressure to bypass normal customer skepticism.

• Fake Websites Multiply: Thousands of counterfeit shopping sites launch specifically for BFCM, using slight variations of legitimate business names. These sites steal customer reviews, copy promotional content, and create functional shopping carts that harvest payment information before disappearing.

• Social Engineering Amplification: Customer service teams facing an extra flood of tickets may have to face criminals attempting to manipulate policies using emotional appeals about urgent gift needs or holiday deadlines.

• Payment Fraud Pattern Changes: BFCM transaction patterns can make normal fraud indicators unreliable. For example, high transaction volumes hide fraudulent purchases that would stand out during normal periods, international shipping for gifts makes suspicious geographic patterns seem legitimate, and rushed checkouts can lower customers’ normal security concerns.

• Advanced Techniques: Some criminals build account credibility with small legitimate purchases, then escalate to high-value fraud during BFCM weekend. They exploit buy-now-pay-later services that use different fraud detection than traditional processors.

• Customer Data Targeting: BFCM databases become valuable targets because they contain recent purchase history and current payment preferences. Criminals specifically attack during high-traffic periods when unusual database access blends with legitimate system activity.

So what can you do about these risks beyond awareness?

Essential BFMC security measures

Companies can implement many security measures that protect customers without creating conversion friction. The goal is to protect against cybercriminals, calm any worries your real customers have, and to deter any fraudsters thinking about trying to fraud you or your customers. The best security uses a mix of technical solutions and practical, marketing-team-driven solutions.

Let’s break down how to uplevel your BFCM cybersecurity.

Core security tasks

SSL and Payment Security:

• Verify SSL certificates handle traffic spikes without creating security warnings
• Confirm payment processors can manage projected BFCM transaction volumes
• Test that security measures don’t slow checkout during high-traffic periods

Website Security:

• Implement a CAPTCHA test to deter bots and spam. Even a simple “I am not a robot” checkbox can dramatically reduce fraud – and free up your time to focus on customers and larger issues.

BFCM security adjustments

BFCM-specific security configurations:

• Configure fraud detection for BFCM shopping patterns rather than normal behavior. Account for higher traffic, higher order values, international gift shipping, and multiple purchases from single customers.
• Set geographic restrictions that block obvious fraud countries while allowing legitimate international gift purchases. Review and adjust based on your actual customer patterns.
• Implement purchase limits that prevent rapid-fire fraud attempts while allowing legitimate customers to buy multiple gifts for different recipients.

External trust signalling

Customer-facing security signals:

• Display security badges prominently near payment buttons on mobile devices
• Include clear return policies and guarantees that reduce purchase anxiety
• Show real-time social proof (recent purchases, customer counts) that builds trust

Team security training

Prep your team for heightened risks:

• Train representatives to recognize social engineering attempts during high-pressure periods
• Develop streamlined identity verification that maintains security without creating wait times. This could be using the last 4 digits of the payment method vs full security questions or verifying identity with order confirmation numbers.
• Establish clear escalation procedures for suspicious requests
• Create “security shortcuts” that work during high-volume periods

Internal communication:

• Establish dedicated channels for security issues separate from general BFCM operations
• Define decision-making authority that enables rapid response without executive approval
• Create contact procedures that work during holiday weekends

Customer communication:

• Prepare templates for common security scenarios (fraud alerts, account security, data protection)
• Emphasize protective actions taken rather than creating anxiety
• Provide clear next steps for affected customers

Monitoring security during BFCM

With proper preparation, most security risks can be avoided. But real-time security monitoring is still essential during BFCM because incidents can quickly escalate into major problems.

We recommend setting up “early warning alerts” that will sound if any notably suspicious activity happens. This can include:

• Sudden spikes in chargebacks or payment failures
• Unusual geographic patterns in high-value orders
• Customer service inquiries about charges they don’t recognize
• Multiple orders to different addresses from single payment methods

Remember, your volume of all of these metrics will rise just because it’s Black Friday and all volume rises. You should expect more chargebacks and some unusual geographic patterns. When you set your alerts, be sure to set thresholds that account for legitimate BFCM traffic increases. A 300% increase in orders might be normal, but a 300% increase in chargebacks indicates problems.

Incident response priorities

One of the best ways to handle the increase in potential fraud is to set up clear incident response priorities ahead of time. For example, you might train your team to categorize all issues into one of three categories:

Level 1 – Immediate Action Required:

• Confirmed payment fraud above your threshold (typically $5,000+ per day)
• Customer data security breaches
• Website security compromises affecting transactions

Level 2 – Investigation Needed:

• Suspicious order patterns that might indicate testing for fraud
• Customer reports of unauthorized charges
• Unusual database or system access patterns

Level 3 – Monitor and Document:

• Minor security alerts consistent with high traffic
• Individual customer security questions
• Routine security events within normal BFCM ranges

Having clear priorities, next steps and priority-level owners helps prevent serious issues from being ignored or “lost” in someone’s inbox while they’re busy with something else.

Key Takeaways

1. BFCM creates amplified security threats that exploit holiday shopping psychology. Criminals specifically target peak shopping periods when customers are less cautious and businesses are overwhelmed.
   
2. Security measures must balance protection with conversion optimization. Overly aggressive fraud detection blocks legitimate sales while weak security invites attacks that damage revenue and reputation.
   
3. Team preparation and clear protocols prevent security incidents from becoming business disasters. Established procedures enable quick response during weekend and holiday periods when normal support isn’t available.
   

What to Do Next

Implement BFCM security using this practical approach:

• Secure the basics, verify SSL certificates and payment processing can handle BFCM traffic, configure fraud detection for holiday shopping patterns, and train customer service teams on security protocols that work during high-volume periods.
  
• Set up monitoring and alerts, establish security alerts appropriate for BFCM traffic patterns, create incident response procedures that work during holiday weekends, and prepare customer communication templates for common security scenarios.
  
• Prepare team protocols, define decision-making authority for security incidents, establish communication channels that function during peak periods, and create escalation procedures that don’t depend on normal business hours.
  

Once security measures are implemented and teams are trained, you’re ready to coordinate multi-channel marketing efforts that deliver consistent messaging and optimal customer experience across all touch points.