With just one month to go until Christmas, the thoughts of many are turning to what to buy for loved ones this festive season.

But with online offers linked to promotional concepts such as today’s so-called Black Friday ever-growing in number, a timely reminder has been issued for people to be on their guard when considering and making purchases.

Credit information company Experian has issued figures highlighting the number of identity fraud attempts being detected – and thwarted – increased by more than a fifth over the past year. The firm warned that fraudulent applications such as these are expected to spike over Christmas, as fraudsters try to take advantage of the increase in online transactions. It comes just after the UK’s biggest ever fraud sting brought down a phone number spoofing site used by criminals to scam thousands of victims out of millions of pounds.

Members of British law enforcement were part of a global operation to bring down ‘online fraud shop’ ispoof. Criminals used it to buy technology that allowed them to mask their phone number. This meant they could trick victims into thinking they were being contacted by their bank and persuade them to pass on personal details that allowed the fraudsters to steal cash.

A person holding bank cards in front of a screen during 'Black Friday', in London, as hundreds of listings for potentially counterfeit products have been removed from Instagram ahead of Black Friday in a joint crackdown by Trading Standards and Meta.

The average loss among the 4,785 people who have reported being targeted is £10,000.

One of the best Christmas gifts families could give each other this year is researching and understanding the warning signs of potential frauds such as these – it might save not just thousands of pounds but untold amounts of heartbreak too.

Heed warning signs over Black Friday and Christmas scams - The Yorkshire Post says