Consumer News: The new targets of Black Friday might surprise you

Scammers love Black Friday weekend more than you do

• Fake Amazon and eBay sites are spiking ahead of Black Friday, using real logos, photos, and too good to be true prices to fool shoppers

• Before you buy, tap the full URL, sanity-check prices, avoid wire/Zelle/crypto, and check for real contact info and recent low-star reviews

• If you get duped, change your Amazon password, call your card issuer to block charges and replace the card, and report the fake site and messages

Black Friday 2025 is shaping up to be a huge weekend for scammers. New data from Nord VPN shows fake Amazon websites jumped 232% in October compared to September. Across all shopping sites, fake stores were up 250%, and fake eBay pages spiked a whopping 525% over the same period.

Perhaps even more worrisome is that 68% of consumers dont know how to spot a phishing website. Combine that with a 36% rise in phishing attacks between August and October, and youve got a perfect storm: more fake sites, more bogus emails, and millions of rushed shoppers hunting for cant-miss deals.

Heres what this all means in real life and how to protect yourself without giving up the savings.

What a fake Amazon site really looks like

Scam sites have gotten much better than the obvious misspelled junk from a few years ago. Many now do the following nefarious tricks:

• Copy Amazons logo completely, including all fonts and layout
• Use product photos and reviews stolen straight from legitimate listings
• Offer too good to be true prices on popular brands
• Push you to pay quickly with limited-time countdowns

Make sure youre taking a close look at the address bar of your browser. Instead of amazon.com, youll see something like this:

• amazn-deals.shop
• amazon-black-friday.online
• prime-clearance-event.com

On a phone, that full URL is usually cut off, so its easy to miss the extra words before or after amazon. So be sure to tap on the actual web address thats displayed and it should show you the full URL.

5 quick checks before you buy anything

Before you checkout make sure you run these five fast checks. This is especially necessary when you reached the site by clicking on an email, text, or ad.

Read the full web address

Tap the URL bar and look at the whole thing. Real Amazon retail pages always live at amazon.com/... not .shop, .top, .store, or a long string that only includes amazon somewhere in the middle.

Scan the prices for magic discounts

If a popular item (like a console, iPad, Dyson, Lego set) is 40%70% cheaper than everywhere else (and only on this one site) assume its fake, refurbished, or never arriving. Real Black Friday deals are priced aggressively, but they typically arent priced 50% less than any other seller.

Check how they want you to pay

If the site asks you to pay in one of these wonky ways, assume the worst:

• Pushes wire transfers, Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, or crypto
• Wont accept mainstream credit cards
• Adds a discount if you use a special payment link

Credit cards offer the best fraud protections. Scammers know this and try to route you around them.

Look for basic contact info

Legitimate stores (even small ones) usually list the following at a minimum:

• A physical address
• A working customer service email or phone number
• Return and privacy policies

If all you see is a contact form and a vague Gmail address, walk away.

Reverse the reviews

If the site has product reviews, be sure to sort them from worst to best. And look at the most recent reviews first to get a better idea of how the seller is operating now, not 2 years ago.

If there are issues, youll quickly see patterns like never received my order, fake tracking number, or only partial order arrived. If every review is 5 stars with generic wording, assume theyre copied or AI-generated.

What to do if you think you got scammed

If you clicked a suspicious link or placed an order on a fake site, act quickly by doing the following:

• Change your Amazon password (and anywhere else you reuse it) and turn on two-factor authentication.
• Call your bank or credit card company and explain what happened. Ask about blocking the charge and issuing a new card.
• Watch your statements closely over the next few weeks for small test charges.
• Report the fake site and messages to Amazon and your email provider. Taking 60 seconds to report it potentially helps fewer people fall for the same scam.

The blind zones are blamed for a major jump in left-turn pedestrian crashes

• Vehicles with big driver-side blind zones are far more likely to hit pedestrians while turning left

• IIHS researchers say large blind zones raise left-turn crash risk by 70% compared with small ones

• Findings highlight visibility problems tied to modern vehicle design, especially SUVs and pickups

Vehicles with large blind zones on the drivers side are dramatically more likely to strike crossing pedestrians during left turns, according to a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The research found that a large blind zone increases the odds of a left-turn pedestrian crash by 70%, while a medium blind zone raises the risk by 59% compared with small ones.

IIHS says thick A-pillars, bulky mirrors, long hoods and windshield geometry all play a role in blocking a drivers view and that these design elements are becoming more common as vehicles grow taller and heavier. These results clearly identify problematic aspects of vehicle design, IIHS President David Harkey said. The challenge for automakers will be to find ways to address them that dont diminish the protection vehicles provide to their occupants in a crash.

Rising pedestrian deaths add urgency to the findings

The study arrives amid a troubling spike in pedestrian fatalities. Since 2009, deaths have increased 78%, reaching more than 7,300 a year. Higher speeds, roadway design and the rise of larger, taller vehicles particularly SUVs and pickups are all contributing factors. These vehicles not only cause more severe injuries but are also more likely to hit pedestrians while turning.

To better understand how design affects visibility, IIHS measured blind zones on 168 vehicles using a camera-based method developed by its engineers. Measurements were taken from the eye level of two driver heights 5 feet 9 inches and 4 feet 11 inches to reflect a wide portion of the driving population.

The results showed significant variations. For average-height drivers, cars had the largest blind zones overall, but SUVs and pickups offered narrower windshield views and pushed the nearest visible point on the road farther away. For shorter drivers, SUVs and pickups created the largest blind zones and the most restricted fields of view.

Across all vehicle types, the average driver-side blind zone blocked 27% of the area in front-left of the vehicle for a 5'9" driver and 33% for a 4'11" driver.

Crash data confirms the link between design and danger

Researchers analyzed nearly 4,500 police-reported pedestrian crashes across seven states. Vehicles with large driver-side blind zones were vastly overrepresented in left-turn crashes compared with straight-driving pedestrian collisions. A narrow front field of view 85 degrees or less increased left-turn crash risk by 51%, and having the nearest visible point more than 30 feet ahead increased risk by 37%.

Passenger-side blind zones, by contrast, did not significantly affect right-turn crashes.

When a drivers view is partially blocked, its easy for a person in the crosswalk to disappear from sight, said Wen Hu, the studys lead author. Thats exactly the kind of situation that leads to turning crashes.

Balancing visibility and crash protection poses design challenges

Some features that worsen blind zones play important safety roles. Thick A-pillars help strengthen roofs in rollovers, and long hoods support larger crumple zones. But IIHS says improvements are possible without undermining occupant protection.

Potential solutions include side-view cameras, hood airbags, and better-tuned pedestrian automatic emergency braking systems designed to work during turning maneuvers. Roadway changes such as giving pedestrians a head start at crosswalks or extending curbs into intersections could also reduce risk by placing pedestrians more clearly in view.

The drivers ability to see is a fundamental element of safety that hasnt received enough attention, Harkey said. That should change with our new ability to easily measure vehicle blind zones and assess their effects on crash risk.

Apple, Google, Meta folded to government demands, suit charges

• Digital-rights group says government pressured major tech platforms to delete apps documenting immigration enforcement

• Lawsuit seeks internal records from DOJ and DHS after apps like ICE Block were taken down

• Case raises constitutional questions about whether officials coerced companies into restricting protected speech

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, demanding records that could reveal whether federal officials pressured technology companies to remove apps documenting immigration enforcement activity across the country.

The suit, filed in federal court on Thursday, comes after multiple platforms including Apple, Google and Meta took down apps and webpages such as ICE Block, Red Dot, DeICER and ICE SightingChicagoland following communications with government officials earlier this year. EFF argues that the removals raise serious First Amendment concerns because the apps were designed to allow users to report and share information about immigration enforcement actions occurring in public.

Removals could amount to unconstitutional coercion

We're filing this lawsuit to find out just what the government told tech companies, said EFF Staff Attorney F. Mario Trujillo. Getting these records will be critical to determining whether federal officials crossed the line into unconstitutional coercion and censorship of protected speech.

The controversy intensified in October, when Apple removed ICEBlock an app used to alert communities about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in specific areas from its App Store. Attorney General Pamela Bondi publicly claimed responsibility, stating: We reached out to Apple today demanding they remove the ICEBlock app from their App Store and Apple did so.

In the aftermath, Apple removed several similar apps, while Google and Meta took down related apps and web pages from their own platforms. Bondi later promised to continue engaging tech companies regarding the issue.

EFF argues that while the government cannot directly suppress protected speech, coercing private companies to do so can still violate the Constitution. People have a First Amendment right to record and share law enforcement activities conducted in public, the group says.

Lawsuit seeks internal documents after agencies fail to produce them

Last month, EFF filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with DOJ, DHS, ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), seeking any communications or records about government efforts to force the removal of immigration-tracking tools. None of the agencies have provided the requested documents, prompting EFFs lawsuit to compel disclosure.

The case could help clarify the extent to which federal officials can pressure private platforms to restrict speech an issue that has been at the center of recent legal battles over content moderation, censorship claims and government-platform communication.

EFF says the requested records are essential to determining whether the government used its influence unlawfully.

New research suggests a subtle but consistent drop in brain-choline may play a role in anxiety disorders

• Researchers at University of California, Davis Health found that people with anxiety disorders had approximately 8% lower levels of choline-containing compounds in key brain regions compared to people without anxiety.

• The study was a meta-analysis of 25 published datasets using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS) to compare neurometabolites in the cortex of individuals with various anxiety disorders versus controls.

• The findings are correlational, not causal: lower brain choline levels dont yet prove they cause anxiety, but they point to a potentially important biomarker and raise questions about nutritional or metabolic support.

Anxiety disorders affect many people, and while we often hear about stress, genetics and therapy, a new piece of the puzzle might be taking shape: levels of a nutrient-derived brain compound called choline.

Researchers at UC Davis are reporting that individuals with anxiety disorders tend to have slightly lower concentrations of choline-containing compounds in the cortex of the brain compared to people without these disorders.

That doesnt mean choline deficiency causes anxiety (not yet), but it suggests our diet and brain chemistry may be more tightly linked to mental health than we realized.

This is the first meta-analysis to show a chemical pattern in the brain in anxiety disorders, researcher Jason Smucny said in a news release. It suggests nutritional approaches like appropriate choline supplementation may help restore brain chemistry and improve outcomes for patients.

The study

Instead of running a single experiment, the researchers looked at 25 previously published brain-imaging studies that compared people with anxiety disorders to people without them. These studies used a type of brain scan called proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, which can measure certain brain chemicals without surgery or injections.

Across all the studies, there were 370 people with anxiety disorders such as social anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder and 342 people without anxiety.

The researchers focused mainly on a chemical group called choline-containing compounds, which are involved in building and maintaining cell membranes in the brain. They also checked several other brain chemicals, but choline was their main interest.

To make sure the findings were reliable, the team checked whether the quality of each study affected the results. They found that studies with stronger signal quality showed clearer differences in choline levels, suggesting the effect was real and not just noise.

The results

The biggest takeaway was that people with anxiety disorders had slightly lower levels of choline-related compounds in the thinking areas of the brain about an 8% difference compared to people without anxiety.

This difference was consistent across multiple types of anxiety disorders, which suggests it may be a common feature rather than something unique to just one condition. The effect was particularly noticeable in the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain involved in decision-making and emotional control.

The team also looked at other chemicals thought to reflect things like neuron activity or metabolic function. Most of those did not show major differences between anxious and non-anxious groups. One chemical showed a small difference only after some unusual data points were removed, but it was less consistent than the findings on choline.

Its important to note that the study does not prove that low brain choline causes anxiety. Its also possible that anxiety itself could affect choline levels. What the study does show is that brain chemistry in people with anxiety may look slightly different, and choline could be a useful marker for future research or treatments.

Someone with an anxiety disorder might want to look at their diet and see whether they are getting the recommended daily amount of choline. Previous research has shown that most people in the U.S., including children, dont get the recommended daily amount, researcher Richard Maddock said in the release.

"Some forms of omega-3 fatty acids, like those found in salmon, may be especially good sources for supplying choline to the brain."