BBB reminding holiday shoppers to watch out for scams

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - We are in the midst of the peak Christmas shopping season.

Many are going out to stores this year, but a lot of that holiday shopping is happening online and scammers know that.

Officials at the Better Business Bureau say it’s important to know how to protect yourself.

It’s easy to get caught up in searching for the perfect gift, and when you find it, you may be tempted to just click “buy now.” However, BBB officials say that you should pause, take a moment and make sure the website you are purchasing from is legitimate.

“We’re hearing from folks who have ordered something they found online, they haven’t received it or what they received was some cheap little knockoff copy and when we ask them where the business is located that they got it from, they’re unable to tell us. There’s no address on the website, or worse, ‘I bought it off of a page on Facebook,” said Heather Clary with the Better Business Bureau.

BBB officials say this time of year they hear from hundreds of people in our area reporting they were scammed or someone tried to scam them.

Clary says this year a favorite of scammers is creating fake websites or Facebook pages where they pose as legitimate retailers, only to not follow through.

Another one they hear a lot of is scammers posing as delivery services. Sending emails or calling customers saying that there’s a problem with your package and you need to call and enter your personal information to resolve the issue.

“Those are all going to be indicative of someone trying to steal your information. Those delivery businesses do not contact you in that manner. There are going to be ways for you track items you have coming to you,” said Clary. “Be sure that you’re shopping with something that’s legitimate, and that will answer your questions. If something sounds too good to be true as far as price, that could be a big red flag as well.”

Clary says it’s also best to shop with a credit card this year. You may not want to run up the charges, but she says that credit companies offer more protections to get your money back than a bank or a company like Venmo or Paypal.

If you are the victim of a scam or someone has tried to scam you, make sure that you report the incident to police and to the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker system.

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