- Check Point reports increase in Black Friday domains, with nearly 10% marked as malicious
- October 2025 alone saw 1,519 new domains impersonating major e-commerce brands, with 1 in 25 deemed malicious
- Researchers warn GenAI tools could speed up the creation of localized phishing sites, increasing risk this shopping season
During October 2025 and the first few weeks of November, there has been a surge in new domain registrations with the theme of Black Friday – however, experts have warned that many of these domains are malicious and are abusing the bargain hunt to steal people’s data, passwords and possibly even money.
A new report from cybersecurity researchers Check Point claims that October 2025 saw 158 new Black Friday-related domains, a 93% increase over the monthly average in 2025, and early November 2025 has been even more intense, with 330 new domains appearing in just the first 10 days of the month.
Of these domains, nearly a tenth (one in eleven) were classified as malicious.
The dangers of GenAI
In addition to domains that have the words “Black Friday” in their name, there are also many new domains imitating major e-commerce brands that have also appeared in recent weeks. These too, Check Point claims, are built solely to take advantage of Black Friday.
In October, there were 1,519 new domains referring to websites such as Amazon, AliExpress or Alibaba, which is a 24% increase compared to September 2025 and a 12% increase compared to the same period last year. Of these sites, 1 in 25 were deemed malicious.
In general, Check Point argues that the volume has been fairly consistent compared to previous years.
However, the researchers have also warned about Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools speeding up the process of new website generation, suggesting that the threat from malicious landing pages – especially localized ones – is significantly greater this year.
“Creating and locating this type of operation is significantly faster and easier with modern generative AI tools,” Check Point said.
“While there is no clear evidence that AI was used in these specific cases, attackers are increasingly using such tools, which will make future campaigns broader, more targeted and harder to detect.”
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