BBB: Avoid online shopping scams while gift hunting

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) – With Thanksgiving happening later in November this year, the holiday shopping period is shortened to just 26 days.

People hoping to save time by snagging holiday deals online need to be careful.

Online shopping scams accounted for 41 percent of all scams reported to the Better Business Bureau in 2023.

Regional director Sydney Waters said the place to start when it comes to avoiding scams is checking the legitimacy of a website.

Many times, people will click the first link they see to navigate to a website. It’s important to pause and make sure the URL matches the domain.

“Say there’s a hot holiday item that you want, and it’s a very low price, and you get a pop-up ad and you go to that website. You really need to do your homework and verify that that’s real, so look at that URL and make sure it’s real and the same as the domain.”

AI allows scammers to create a very convincing replica of a real website people might choose to shop. That also includes pictures of items supposedly for sale.

“You’ll have very flashy photographs that look credible, and you think, ‘People invested in photography, it’s got to be legitimate,’ and that’s not the case at all.”

Waters said another type of scam involving declined credit cards is also being reported in the region. “That one makes me so upset, because you get charged multiple times on that scam.”

Consumers are encouraged to use credit cards for purchases, because it’s a traceable payment method, and shoppers are less likely to lose money. With this scam, the method of payment isn’t the problem.

It involves a false alert that the charge has been declined when it really went through. The scammer is hoping the shopper will keep trying the card or try new cards, and they’ll keep sending the fake alert each time.

“When you contact your credit card company, that’s not even a declined charge, that’s a fraudulent charge from a scammer, who is over and over again charging your credit card,” Waters said. “I had a consumer lose $200 on a cup recently, that they kept trying to purchase over and over and it just kept charging her card.”

It’s also always a good time to make sure devices used for browsing the internet are up to date on malware and virus protection.

Finally, people can go through the Better Business Bureau to be certain websites they browse are what they claim to be.

“You can always look for an Accredited Business, and that’s a service that the BBB offers for free on our website,” Waters said. “That means that that business promises to uphold our standards of trust, and you’ll have a very ethical experience with them.”

Some websites will include a fake BBB accreditation, so it’s important to check through the BBB’s website.

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