Beware of scams, porch pirates while Prime Day shopping

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – Tuesday was the start of Amazon Prime Day and many shoppers will be expecting packages on their doorstep by the end of the week.

The Better Business Bureau said while online shoppers browse for summer deals, they need to beware of scammers, especially those using fake websites and other tricks to take your personal information.

Josh Planos, the BBB Vice President of Public Relations, said some sites might look legitimate but there are differences, including characters in the URL.

“Make sure you’re working with a business, an organization that you trust,” he said. “If this is a new company, if they’re selling on behalf of Amazon or on behalf of Target, you want to make sure you’re doing your due diligence, you’re researching them to make sure they’ve proven trustworthy in the past.”

Police also warn about what can happen after checkout and offer these tips to keep your packages safe.

“You can have some kind of secure storage on your porch or near your porch where your delivery driver can put the package inside the locker, lock the locker, and then it’ll be secure,” said Capt. Tom Gresham with the Andover Police Department. “Something else you can do is have somebody you can trust, a family member or neighbor that can come to your home about the time the package is supposed to be delivered and collect that package for you.”

Planos said if you run into an online scam, report it even if you don’t lose money. He said your experience could help protect someone else from getting scammed.

You can make that report on the Better Business Bureau’s website.

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