TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Be careful when making your online purchases on Black Friday as shoppers are looking to save while crooks are hoping to pull a fast one.
One way they fool you is by creating a fake website or fake company.
For example, they often pose as Amazon, but if you look carefully, they have a URL that’s a few letters different.
By the time you realize that the damage may be done because you may have already given the thieves your credit card information.
Kathy Stokes, AARP’s director of fraud prevention programs, tells me it may take months before you realize you’ve been tricked.
Imagine you order a present that never shows up.
You receive emails that the item is delayed over and over again, and then the website disappears.
Stokes said to look out for ads on social media sites.
“One of the biggest areas we’re seeing that is in online ad that appear in social media,” she said. “We found that over the past 12 months, half of us have purchased something from one of those ads, and a third of the people who’ve done that have experienced fraud. So I would say you just can’t really trust those online ads.”
Nationally, imposter website scams are up 125%, according to the Better Business Bureau.
When shopping online, don’t hand out passwords or one-time pass codes.
If you receive communication — a call, text, or email — that you think may not be from a legitimate business, contact that business directly to confirm.