Black Friday 2025 promises to be one of the most intense in recent years: 7 out of 10 Italians are already ready to make purchases and the average spend rises to 268 euros, compared to 261 euros last year. This was revealed by a survey by Confcommercio–Format Research.
But along with the increase in purchases, a worrying phenomenon is also growing: according to Consumerismo Non Profit, during Black Friday online scam attempts register a surge of up to +400% compared to other periods of the year. A growth made possible also by the increasingly sophisticated use of artificial intelligence by fraudsters.
Here’s what’s happening and how to defend yourself.
Italians buy more (and increasingly online)
The 2025 edition of Black Friday confirms a constantly growing trend: 70.2% of Italians declare that they will make at least one purchase during the week, a figure up by 3% compared to 2024. The average expected spend reaches 268 euros and, for many, it also represents an opportunity to bring Christmas gifts in advance. In fact, as many as 66.7% will take advantage of the discounts to carry on with their Christmas shopping, covering almost half of the overall budget allocated to the holidays.
The ones driving the purchases are above all women, young people between 18 and 34 years old and the inhabitants of Northern Italy. As for the most sought-after products, electronics and appliances remain at the top of the list, followed by clothing, personal care items and toys.
In terms of purchasing channels, a strong integration between online and offline emerges: 50.2% of Italians will purchase both on the web and in physical stores, while 32.3% will choose exclusively online shopping and 17.5% will continue to prefer traditional stores. In the offline world, shopping centers remain the most popular places and even record growth compared to the previous year.
A decisive role is also played by digital communication: 41.5% of Italians are influenced by online advertising, 34.6% use artificial intelligence to search for information and compare prices, and 29.1% say they are guided in their purchasing choices by Instagram. In short, Black Friday increasingly presents itself as a hybrid event, digital and driven by new technological tools that have a profound impact on consumer behavior.
Scams up 400%
As the propensity to purchase grows, fraud attempts also increase. Non-Profit Consumerism signals a real explosion in scams, fueled by increased online activity by users and the use of AI to make scams more credible and sophisticated.
In fact, AI allows scammers to generate perfect texts, without errors; create websites that perfectly imitate the best-known brands; produce credible reviews, images and ads, and automate large-scale attacks. Result? Even the most careful users can fall into the trap.
Among the most frequent phenomena are:
1. Scams on social media
Black Friday hashtags and tags are used to direct users to offers that seem irresistible… but don’t exist. The pages instead lead to sites created to steal sensitive data or make fraudulent payments.
2. Suspicious messages on WhatsApp, Facebook and SMS
Links referring to “super discounts”, “flash offers” or “delayed shipments” are often traps built to steal banking credentials.
3. Surge in phishing
Emails that imitate those from banks, couriers or e-commerce, with invitations to “verify an order” or “update data”. One click is enough to put cards and current accounts at risk.
4. Fake e-commerce
Sites that spring up “like mushrooms” just before Black Friday: they sell smartphones, tablets or designer clothes at prices too low to be true.
They cash in and then disappear immediately after November 28th, without delivering anything.
How to protect yourself from scams
To shop safely during Black Friday, Consumerismo invites you to follow some simple but fundamental rules. The first is not to open suspicious links: messages that promise discounts or incredible offers and that arrive from unknown numbers or addresses should be avoided without hesitation. It is also important to be wary of excessively high discounts, because unrealistically low prices are often the most obvious sign of a scam.
When purchasing online you must also carefully check the sites: spelling errors, slow or incomplete pages and poorly designed graphics can be alarm bells that should not be underestimated. It is also essential to check that the padlock appears in the address bar, which indicates the presence of the https protocol and therefore a minimum level of protection.
Consumerismo also reminds you to never provide personal data via email or telephone and to always check that the site contains real company information, such as the company name, VAT number, address and telephone number. If this data is missing, it is best to avoid.
Another good practice is to check reviews and opinions online, so as to get an idea of the seller’s reliability. Finally, it is advisable to only use secure payment systems, such as prepaid cards or PayPal, avoiding entering credit card details on sites that raise doubts.
Sources: Consumerismo / Confcommercio
