Nationwide eight-day warning ahead of customers losing £278 from bank account

Nationwide has urged customers to be careful on Black Friday - as the prospect of being scammed rises. The building society, which is the UK's biggest, warned Black Friday transactions are set to be 9 per cent higher than 2023 with Brits expecting to spend average of £278.

Nationwide members predicted to spend £233K per minute on the day, an uplift of 12 per cent versus last year. Research shows over 80% of people plan to take part in Black Friday on Friday, November 29, and 1 in 3 return up to 5 items each year.

As Black Friday approaches Nationwide is calling on consumers to be on alert for deals that seem too good to be true. The warning comes as over a fifth (21%) say that they would buy an item if it was significantly cheaper on a website they hadn’t used before.

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Just less than half (45%) said they would buy it after conducting “a bit” of research into the merchant. 49 per cent said they have never reported suspicious transactions on their account to their bank or building society. According to UK Finance’s Annual Fraud Report, purchase scams were the most common type of APP scam last year, accounting for 67 per cent of APP scam cases.

Mark Nalder, Director of Payment Strategy at Nationwide said: “It looks like we are in for another record-breaking Black Friday as it continues to act as the ‘opening bell’ for Christmas shopping. Despite cost-of-living challenges, consumers are still pinpointing Black Friday to get a sizeable chunk of their Christmas shopping done.

“However, it’s important shoppers remain vigilant and stay safe when making purchases online to avoid falling victim to a purchase scam. That is why people, where possible, should pay by credit or debit card as this offers greater consumer protection. Nationwide customers can also use our Scam Checker Service before making any payments if they are even slightly concerned.”

Nationwide encourages any customers concerned about a purchase to use its Scam Checker Service, which is available in branch or by calling a 24/7 freephone number (0800 030 4057).