ERIE (Erie News Now) – Do your research before shopping online. In addition to big businesses, internet scammers are expected to rack up millions this year, too.
“With supply chain concerns, and hiring during the holidays, this is even more of a reason for consumers to be careful about who they’re dealing with,” said Better Business Bureau of Western PA president, Warren King.
The BBB says doing research on sites you’ve never shopped with before is more crucial this year, than ever. While you’re trying to score great deals on name brand clothing, designer bags, and electronics, scammers are trying to steal your information and sell you fake products.
“Don’t make a hasty buying decision. We all want to make our family members and children happy because they want these certain gifts, well so does everybody else,” said King.
Social media is prime hunting ground for scammers. If you log onto sites, like Facebook, it’s likely you’ll see several adds when scrolling. But luckily, the BBB says there are usually dead giveaways that prove is sites connected to these advertisements are real or fake.
“Many times there’s misspellings on those websites. The URL is a little bit different than the brand name,” said King.
BBB says doing an extra few minutes of research could potentially save you thousands of dollars.
“One of the things we often see is that everyone is in a rush around the holiday season, so they don’t take the time to do their research,” King said.
More than 400 types of products were used by scammers to defraud people in the last year, and that number could grow exponentially by the end of this holiday season.
Leave a Reply