Toy-blackfriday.store is a scam website that offers to purchase Lego sets from Lego at unusually discounted prices. It may look like a discounter or a reseller of goods from stock liquidation, but it is actually just a narrative to make you think this site is legitimate. After ordering from this site, you will most likely get nothing at all, or, at best, inferior or counterfeit items.
In this article, I will demonstrate the warning signs regarding the Toy-blackfriday.store store, the way this fraud operates, and explain how to detect similar scams. This will help you to avoid similar shopping scams in future.
Toy-blackfriday.store Site – Scam Overview
As I said, Toy-blackfriday.store may initially seem like a authentic discounter or the seller of stock liquidation items. But a quick analysis shows a concerning amount of red flags that indicate clearly about this site’s fraudulence. Questionable advertising methods, extremely low prices, absence of user support and customer reviews – this site completes the fraud bingo right away.
| Website | Toy-blackfriday.store |
| Hosting | AS13335 Cloudflare, Inc. United States, San Francisco |
| IP Address | 104.18.12.222 |
| Threat Type | Scam/Fraud |
| Scam Type | Fraudulent/Scam online shop |
Toy-blackfriday.store Scam
By purchasing items on sites like Toy-blackfriday.store, it is questionable that you will receive the goods you’ve ordered. More commonly, it results in one of 3 scenarios common for scam sites.
Counterfeit goods. Not the worst option, as you get at least something. But as it usually happens to fraudulent items of popular brands, the attribute will be inferior, to say the least. Eventually, the site may mention about that somewhere deep in the item description or “about us” page, but users rarely check them thoroughly. This is a particularly common case when ordering from pages that promote baubles, small electronics and stuff the like.
Wrong item. To make the transaction look more legitimate, but spend even less money on the actual item, frauds may send a incidental item they have instead of what you’ve ordered. An old t-shirt instead of a branded one, a dented aluminum plate instead of a set of dishes – frauds may turn quite inventive in that case.
Absolutely nothing. This is the most usual scenario when ordering items from sites like Toy-blackfriday.store. Fraudsters take your money, promise the delivery, and then simply disappear. As scams do not aim to exist for a long time, fraudsters do not bother themselves with creating even a vague sight of legitimacy.
Toy-blackfriday.store scam – How does it work?
As any scam, Toy-blackfriday.store follows a simple and well-proven modus operandi. It commonly consists of 3 stages, with certain deviations from time to time.
Step 1 – Attract the Masses. Scammers post huge amounts of promotions on online platforms, particularly preferring Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Paid ads say exactly the same things as their sites do: 90% discounts, free delivery around the world, hurry up to get the deal.
Ads of fraudulent shops posted on different platforms
As users consider ads on the mentioned platforms legitimate, they do not suspect anything at this point. Ads become especially persuasive during major events that boost people’s interest in shopping, like Halloween, Black Friday, Christmas, etc. Sometimes, they disguise themselves as resellers of the liquidated stock of bankrupt retail companies.
Step 2 – Take the Money. Once consumers are on the site, scammers do their best to make the individuals buy something. Mind-boggling deals, additional discount promo codes, free shipping, bright and blinking “Order Now” buttons that are just everywhere – they use every single method possible. And this works out – uninformed consumers stick to the offers and proceed to paying for the order.
Payments are done in a peculiar manner. Instead of more classic options for online shopping, like Visa/MasterCard payments or PayPal, scammers offer using direct bank transfers, Venmo or CashApp. Thing is, the latter do not provide any refunds, regardless of the circumstances. Even when you can prove that the transaction went to fraudsters, “no refunds” is a part of their policy which you agree on upon registration.
Step 3 – Vanish. Once rascals get enough money, or – what is more likely – there are enough complaints and user feedback regarding the site being a scam, they just disappear. Usually, this happens at around the 2nd or 3rd week of the site activity. Once enough people know about the fraudulent activity, the money flow will dry up, leaving cheats with no reason to move on. Reporting the scam to the hosting helps take the domain down pretty quickly.
Why is Toy-blackfriday.store a Scam?
Well, we just talked about the way the scam site operates. Now, let’s see how to understand whether the site is untrustworthy without risking your money. Fortunately, fraudsters do not bother themselves with creating well-rounded disguises, so the same red flags repeat from one site to another.
1. Fake or absent reviews
Hoax websites aim to exist for 1-2 weeks, so there’s no purpose (and way) to make any online reputation with user reviews. Obviously, even legit online shopping sites will lack consumer comments when they have just started, since there were not many customers yet. For that reason, this sign is not stand-alone and must be confirmed with other signs or indicators.
Definitely not generic comments generated by AI
However, when you face unrealistic reviews that have no relation to what the site offers for sale, that’s definitely not a good sign. Any vague or gibberish reviews that may describe any item sold on the site should be taken with a grain of salt. And well, on scam websites you will get an entire saltcellar. Always search for reviews on Google – this may save your money.
2. Unbelievably high discounts/low prices
No merchants will sell goods at loss for themselves. 70%, 80%, 90% markdowns are not trustworthy even during sales events such as the aforementioned Black Friday. In some cases, fraudulent sites set the prices low without saying anything about discounts, but they will most likely be outrageous, like $30 for a bed or $10 for a branded leather bag. Goods may be sold for cheap, but every sell-off has its rational limits.
3. No customer support.
That factor distinguishes fraudulent websites from the benign ones, even newly established. When a site is about to rip off the clients, there’s no need to bother about answering their questions. Check out the “About us” or “Info” page – the site will most likely have no support contacts whatsoever.
Typically for fraudulent websites, the “About us” column is completely empty
When they offer an email, or even a phone to contact them, there is a huge chance that these numbers and emails will be unresponsive to your request. This, or they will answer you with generic text regardless of your inquiry.
As scammers often reuse numbers and emails for specifying them as “support”, you can search them on Google. When they are mentioned on a different site, be sure you’re facing a blatant scam.
A chain of scam sites that use the same “support email”
4. Payments via payment systems that does not support refunds
This scam indicator is not a guarantee, as there are plenty of benign services using direct bank transfers, CashApp, Venmo or similar payment systems. Each of the latter has the same feature I’ve already mentioned above: they do not suppose any refunds. And this is what attracts scammers – once you’ve sent the money, there’s no way to get the money back.
Some sites may also ask for payments in cryptocurrency, which is even less controllable than aforementioned payment methods. While cryptocurrency payments expand their presence slowly, they still remain a beloved bay for different frauds.
5. Items’ images are sourced from another page
As scammers most likely don’t have any items, they cannot make unique pictures. Thus their only option is simply to hijack these images elsewhere. When rascals market the same items on different sites, you can find such images on similarly-looking scam sites. By searching for the image on Google, you can prove the uniqueness of an image.
Image duplicates on another scam site, as well as on Amazon and Walmart sites
6. Design repeats the one of a different page
Frauds do not copy only pics. As rascals may parasite on the same topic repeatedly, they use the same site design under the new address, and voila – a new scam is ready to rock-n-roll! In some cases, reverse image search advice from the previous paragraph may lead you to the identical copy of the original site. It makes uncovering such frauds pretty easy, but crooks who stand behind them never aim at cautious users.
Example of scam sites that duplicate each others’ design
Is your PC infected?
There are cases when Toy-blackfriday.store website, together with similar scam pages, are promoted by malware. Adware and browser hijackers are two particular malware types known for such behavior. If you see excessive ads in your browser, see your search queries redirected into an unusual search engine and some random pages open time to time, scan your PC with GridinSoft Anti-Malware. This will help you to get rid of annoying promotions and scam sites.
Remove malware with Gridinsoft Anti-Malware
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Frequently Asked Questions about the Toy-blackfriday.store Scam
Toy-blackfriday.store operates as a scam website that pretends to be an online store selling various items at low prices. However, it is involved in fraudulent activities and aims to deceive customers by sending counterfeit or inferior products or not delivering anything at all.
There are multiple indicators that point at fraudulent nature of Toy-blackfriday.store shop. First and foremost, Toy-blackfriday.store shop recently created its webpage, which is a common feature of short-lived deceptive online platforms that swiftly evaporate. Secondly, the webpage lacks ways to reach out such as a phone number, physical address, or real-time chat alternative, making it difficult to address issues or queries. Third, it provides bogus company details, giving no genuine details about the organization behind the online platform. Additionally, this fraudulent scheme entices shoppers with unrealistic rebates and promotions, reducing prices by over 70% or even 90%. Furthermore, Toy-blackfriday.store copies text and product images from legitimate web shops like Alibaba, Amazon, and Aliexpress, demonstrating a lack of unique ideas and trustworthiness. In addition, despite asserting to offer trendy and chic goods, the webpage lacks any social media presence or links to social media platforms. Lastly, real customer feedback is completely absent, with reports of delayed or absent deliveries, inferior customer service, defective or wrong products, reimbursement difficulties, and unauthorized transactions on credit cards.
No, it is not a legitimate or reliable website. The aforementioned red flags indicate that it lacks credibility and has been reported as a scam site. Customers have experienced receiving counterfeit products or facing difficulties in obtaining refunds or contacting the company.
Take the following steps if you have made a purchase on Toy-blackfriday.store:
- Firstly, immediately contact your bank or financial institution if you paid with a credit card or debit card. Request them to cancel the transaction and initiate a refund. Additionally, report Toy-blackfriday.store as a fraudulent site and urge them to block future charges from it.
- Promptly change your passwords if you have a Toy-blackfriday.store account or use the same password for other online accounts. Consider enabling two-factor authentication to enhance security against hackers attempting to access your accounts and steal personal information.
- Beware of phishing emails related to your Toy-blackfriday.store order. Treat any emails offering discounts or refunds as phishing attempts. Avoid clicking on suspicious links or downloading attachments that may contain malware. Delete such emails immediately.
- To prevent malicious ads, Trojans, phishing attempts, and other undesirable content, use a browser-based content blocker like AdGuard. This will complement your antivirus software and provide enhanced protection.
- If you suspect your device is infected with malware, scan it using Gridinsoft Anti-Malware to ensure your security.
No, Toy-blackfriday.store does not have genuine customer feedback or testimonials. The absence of legitimate customer reviews further indicates its untrustworthiness and potentially fraudulent nature.
Toy-blackfriday.store Scam
Store Name: Toy-blackfriday.store
Store Description: Toy-blackfriday.store is an online store that has been identified as a fraudulent from Lego website involved in scam activities. It claims to offer a variety of Lego sets, often at extremely low prices, to attract unsuspecting customers. However, numerous red flags and customer reports indicate that Toy-blackfriday.store either sends counterfeit or inferior Lego sets, or fails to deliver anything at all. The website lacks genuine contact information, company details, and social media presence. It has been found to plagiarize content and product images from legitimate online stores, further compromising its credibility. Due to these factors, it is strongly advised to avoid Toy-blackfriday.store and similar websites to protect oneself from financial loss and potential scams.
Price range: $5 - $100
Address: no
Telephone: no
