‘Be careful;’ BBB warns of potential scams with holiday shopping season in full swing

The holiday shopping season is here and so are the online deals, but the Better Business Bureau is warning shoppers of potential scams.

Sheri Sword, from the Better Business Bureau told News Center 7′s Consumer Reporter Xavier Hershovitz that scammers use anything and everything to take advantage of people, and holiday shopping is no exception.

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Last year, online shopping scams were the most reported scams to the BBB. $114 is the media amount people lost to these scams.

“You really have to be careful. Don’t just order willy-nilly from someone. They may be targeting you as a scammer,” Sword said.

Rebecca Robins, of Dayton, tries to shop locally for her gifts.

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“I always say every year I’m gonna do this and then I don’t you know, early shopping but I’m not worried,” Robbins said.

However, she often finds something she just has to have on Instagram.

“I’m like yes, I do want that ridiculous thing that I don’t need,” Robbins said.

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Social Media Ads are where you need to be especially cautious.

“Scammers track our buying behavior on social media, so they see what you’re interested in, and then they start to target you,” Sword said. “It’s very easy to make their pictures, their descriptions seem like they’re up on the up and up, but they’re not always so do your homework and really check it out.”

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

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“If something in your head says it’s not the right thing, something’s off, it probably is so you might want to go look somewhere else,” Sword said.

You should only buy things online that are secure and traceable, and Sword suggests only using your credit card for online purchases.

“Your credit card offers you protection if something doesn’t come the way you expect it to. Your debit card doesn’t do that wiring money doesn’t do that, paying cash doesn’t do that,” Sword said.

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Robbins operates under these rules when shopping online.

“But you always want to try to get your credit card, right? Because you know, you can get your money back if something happens typically,” Robbins said.

Sword also said to double and triple-check the website you are ordering from before putting any of your information in. Scammers sometimes spoof legitimate websites.

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