ONLINE shopping scams are expected over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend as police advise the public on how to stay safe.

Whilst shopping for bargain make sure you notice the tell tale signs of online fraudsters.

A police spokesman said: "It is a time when online criminals are very active, knowing they can use the lure of a great deal to attract you to clicking on links, sending you to a fraudulent website, or getting you to divulge personal information without thinking about it.

"Shop websites that you’re familiar with to avoid the fraudulent ones.

"Don’t make purchases on public Wi-Fi – many of us now use online shopping versus traditional means, but you should never use public Wi-Fi to do so. It’s an insecure network and your details could be easily intercepted. Use your data instead if you’re unable connect to a network that you know is secure, and look for the padlock when you’re checking out. Often shown as a green padlock in the address bar, this means that your data being transmitted is encrypted,and that’s a good thing."