Watch out for this new holiday shopping scam
- Kim Thompson: Better Business Bureau
- December 7, 2020
- 951
The holiday shopping season is upon us. With the pandemic many local in-person events such as popup holiday markets or craft fairs have moved online. Scammers are creating phony copycat events that charge for admission and steal your credit-card information.
You hear your city’s annual holiday market or another shopping event will be held virtually this year. You search for it online and find a social-media post or event page. Besides moving online, one other big thing is different this year. The event, which has been free in the past, is now requiring a paid ticket. You enter your credit-card number and personal information such as full name and address. Unfortunately, the “ticket” is a scam. The event information you found was posted by scammers and not affiliated with the real holiday market.
Con artists are creating fake event pages, social posts and emails to confuse attendees into sharing their credit-card information. In another twist on this scam, some virtual holiday markets have a website or social-media page where vendors can post photos of their products and links to their websites. Be careful here too. Some consumers reported to BBB that they clicked the links provided, thinking they led to an online shop. Instead, the sites downloaded malware.
Is there an admission fee? Visit the event’s website to see if you need to purchase an admission ticket for the virtual event. If not, watch for scammers trying to claim otherwise. If this happens, message the event coordinator to help prevent other virtual attendees from being scammed.
Research vendors and the host. If the event is unfamiliar to you, research the host and list of vendors ahead of time. While virtually browsing from booth to booth, make sure you are only clicking on the links provided. If you are unsure if a shop is legitimate, do an online search for that vendor’s store rather than follow the link provided.
Use a credit card. When making any purchases, use your credit card. This way if anything gets charged that wasn’t supposed to be, you can file a claim with your credit-card company.
Keep your receipts. Make note of all of your purchases and save your receipts. If you have a question about a product or need to make a return, you will have the vendor’s information readily available.
Know the return policy. Before making a purchase, ask the vendor what their return policy is so you will not run into issues after the holidays.
Read BBB’s tips on holiday pop-up shops at www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/18892-bbb-tip-holiday-pop-up-shops or learn more about buying tickets to an event by reading the article at www.bbb.org/article/tips/13986-bbb-tip-buying-tickets.
If you’ve been targeted by this scam, help others avoid the same problem by reporting your experience at www.BBB.org/ScamTracker. Your report can help others to spot a scam before it’s too late.
Visit www.bbb.org/canton or call 330-454-9401 to look up a business, file a complaint, write a customer review, read tips, follow on social media and more.