Our director Marissa's work will be featured in the Better Business Bureau's new study coming out tomorrow! Marissa works with small businesses to help them prevent and fight back against scams that impersonate them, steal their name, product and copyrighted images – harming their sales and reputation. These scams hurt business too. She also educates consumers all over the globe on how they can shop safely.
 

Ad scams are all over Facebook. Scams either result in you receiving nothing, or an item that is significantly different from what you were promised. This is called bait and switch fraud, and increasingly, scammers send worthless, low quality copies of what they advertise. You may also have your information or credit card stolen, so it’s best to avoid falling for a scam in the first place.

Here are 10 tips, if you see an ad you’re not sure about, and want to know some scam red flags as well as how to protect yourself:
 

1.     Use a credit card. Fraudsters won’t help you if you are not sent what you ordered! If you are scammed, call the number on the back of your card and speak to the fraud department. You have protections from your card by law and if you are scammed, you can contact them to make things right.

Canadians who are victims of a scam should also file a report with https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm The CAFC and RCMP work with the banks when a dispute/chargeback is filed, to help victims get their money back.

If you use PayPal, do so WITH a credit card.
 

2.     Don’t impulse buy just because you see a flashy ad with a good price. Research before you make a purchase and be skeptical about too good to be true prices. A scam is no deal.

Scammers can make nice looking sites in just minutes these days on ecommerce platforms like Shopify. Look beyond the photos in the ad and on the site.

3.     Stick with shopping on reputable sites: local small business you know, trusted platforms like Etsy for art items, manufacturer- authorized sellers of a product, and national brand name retailers.

Look for a blue check mark on Facebook for the real brand page. Scammers like to impersonate brands, too.

4.     If you want to make sure the site follows the laws and rules you expect, honors returns and warranties etc., then shop with sites in your own country. Scammers are often based in countries like China. Overseas fraudsters do not care about adhering to our laws, nor do they respect our expectations as shoppers as to how they should behave. Fraudulent sites are usually not real “companies.”

5.     Scam websites often have odd, gibberish names and they have thousands of throwaway sites they make to run their fraud.
 

6.     If you don’t recognize the site name, check on Scamadviser.com. They offer a FREE browser extension in partnership with Trend Micro. Trend Micro Check detects and alerts you to known scam sites, when you land on them:

 https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/forHome/products/trend-micro-check.html

Also, Google the site name and “scam.”

Canadians and Americans can check the site's Better Business Bureau profile, too. https://www.bbb.org/

7.     Even checking reviews, note that there are a lot of fake positive reviews out there. Check negative reviews on the Facebook page, or on third party review sites (you can Google the website name or address and “reviews.”

8.     Check that contact info is real and US-based (or Canada, wherever you are). I even call the number posted. Scammers usually post a fake phone number if they have one at all. They don’t put time and effort having real contact info, and a real customer service number or email. Does the site have a real domain-based customer service email like service@ ______.com? Or does it have a random, free email address?

Google the posted address. Is it real and do you see a presence for this business? Real businesses work at establishing their existence and reputation beyond their website.

If there is no address or phone number at all on a website, you should think twice about shopping there.

Bait and switch scammers often use platforms like Shopify that have encryption; a “secure checkout” doesn’t mean that a site is safe from fraud.

9.     Scam sites tend to be brand new and don’t stay up long. You can check the age of any website on Whois.com , and the age for any Facebook page by clicking Page Transparency.

10.  Is the grammar poor on the site? Read carefully. This can be a big red flag. The About page is often a tell – scammers copy and paste from generic and even nonsensical templates, such as “We love every passion and interest on Earth because it is a reference to your UNIQUENESS…” This scammer favorite has been repeated on thousands of fake ecommerce sites from China.

Also, take the time to read the product page and the terms for shipping, returns etc. However, scammers won’t honor any terms posted! That’s why you’ll have to contact your payment issuer if you fall victim to a non-receipt or bait and switch scam.
 

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My most basic advice is, if you see a product you like in an ad but you don’t recognize the website, look for the product on a trusted and established site instead.

If you do take the risk, save everything and screenshot the website AND ad you saw, for your records. Don't use the same password you have for other website logins.

Ultimately this responsibility should not all fall on consumers’ shoulders - these advertisements should be vetted. However, we need to protect ourselves.
 

-Marissa, MBA and Scamfighting admin of facebook.com/groups/stopfraudads