Phishing Attacks, Spoofed Domains, and AI-Driven Fraud Are Targeting UK Companies
Every year, Black Friday brings chaos to inboxes and checkout pages alike. While consumers chase half-price gadgets, cybercriminals are pursuing something far more valuable: data, passwords, and money. What began as a retail issue has evolved into a wider business threat, as attackers now repurpose the same Black Friday scam tactics to target companies across the UK.
Cyber Scams Are Getting Sharper and More Personal
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has warned that fraudsters increasingly exploit Black Friday’s sense of urgency to make fake offers and websites more convincing. In 2023, UK victims lost more than £11.5 million to holiday-season scams, and experts predict 2025 will bring even more advanced attacks as criminals use AI tools to craft realistic emails, spoof domains, and falsify payment links.
Darktrace has reported that phishing attempts rose by 692% around last year’s Black Friday weekend, many aimed directly at businesses rather than shoppers. Attackers often use lookalike domains, such as replacing a lowercase “l” with a capital “I”, to impersonate suppliers or payment partners. Their messages typically contain urgent transfer requests that appear completely legitimate at first glance.
This seasonal surge plays on the same psychological triggers that drive consumer behaviour: speed, distraction, and misplaced trust.
Why Businesses Are Being Caught Out by Cyber Breaches
For many organisations, Black Friday is not about retail discounts, yet their employees are still exposed to the same online noise. A single distracted click can lead to credential theft, ransomware, or financial loss.
The UK Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025 found that 93% of all reported cyber incidents involved phishing. That is the same social-engineering technique scammers use to trick online shoppers, but with far greater consequences when it reaches a company’s finance system or client database.
In practice, the threats often appear as:
- A convincing email from a supposed supplier requesting an urgent change to payment details.
- A promotional message that secretly installs malware.
- A fake courier notification carrying a ransomware payload.
Once the link is clicked, the difference between a quick recovery and serious damage depends entirely on how strong your defences are.
What Strong Cyber Defences Look Like
Effective protection is not about hoping every employee spots a scam. It is about creating layers of defence so that one mistake does not become a crisis. This is where a managed service provider (MSP) delivers real value.
The most resilient businesses now rely on:
- Email authentication and monitoring, using protocols such as DMARC and SPF to block impersonation before it reaches inboxes.
- Continuous patching and updates, closing the vulnerabilities attackers exploit during busy periods.
- Real-time monitoring and threat response, keeping constant watch over systems to detect and stop suspicious activity.
- Phishing simulations and training, giving staff the awareness to question what looks legitimate.
- Backups and recovery plans, ensuring operations can be restored quickly if an incident occurs.
These proactive measures keep businesses stable while others are distracted by short-term offers.
Turning Awareness into Action to Protect Your Business
As inboxes fill with tempting deals this November, it is worth asking whether your team would recognise a malicious email hidden among the genuine ones. Would your systems detect a spoofed domain before an invoice is paid?
If the answer is uncertain, this is the time to act. Working with a proactive MSP is about preparation, not paranoia, and prevention always costs less than recovery.
Black Friday happens once a year, but the need for vigilance never ends. As cybercriminals refine their tactics, your defences must advance too. Investing in professional monitoring, training, and protection now could be the smartest deal your business makes all year.
Don’t let one distracted click lead to a disaster. Get in touch with 7clouds today for tailored cyber protection and peace of mind.
