MILWAUKEE— For those last minute holiday shoppers, finding the best deals could perhaps lead them down a rabbit hole of scams.
Senior Director for Investigations at the Wisconsin Better Business Bureau, Lisa Schiller, tells Wisconsin’s Midday News most of these scams can be located online.
“We that 60% of these scams are being used through social media,” said Schiller. “So when you’re on Facebook and you see those ads for items that grab your attention, things that seem too good to be true, they are most likely an online scam.”
Schiller says these scams can be found most commonly around popular items such as sports gear, makeup, shoes, and even puppies.
“A lot of people are falling in love with these puppy pictures online and they really want to add them to the family,” said Schiller. “So they’ll pay multiple increments for this dog that they’ve only seen online and eventually it results in money being taken and families being scammed.”
One way that scammers get consumers according to Schiller is by faking websites.
“First of all, you have to research who the seller is and you have to really watch that URL,” said Schiller. “A lot of the time, scammers will duplicate a website. They’ll steal photos, they’ll steal text, and they’ll sometime change just one letter. So instead of maybe Kohls department store, the scam website could say Kohl department store.”
Anyone who deals with online shopping scams should report to the Wisconsin Better Business Bureau, local authorities and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
