ROCKFORD (WREX) — The Better Business Bureau alerts online customers to take precautions during this shopping season to avoid scams.
The holiday shopping season kicks off October 11 and 12 with the launch of Amazon’s new “Prime Early Access Sale.”
Amazon’s announcement to get ahead on holiday sales has Walmart, Home Depot, and other companies creating their own early special promotions.
“The season is opening up earlier than ever, and likely so will the online scam attempts,” says Dennis Horton, director of the Rockford Regional Office of the Better Business Bureau.
“These scams not only hurt the victims, but they also take money away from legitimate businesses. More sales are great for customers, but people must take extra precautions to avoid losing money and personal identity in phishing scams, misleading advertisements, and lookalike websites.”
Phishing can increase during busy shopping times and especially when people have deadlines to buy.
BBB suggests that when searching online or browsing social media, be wary of ads that point to scam websites.
Con artists will often make messages and fake websites that look like they belong to a trusted retailer.
However, when the website’s URL is closely inspected, you’ll notice that the domain name is slightly different.
Also, use common sense when evaluating so-called “deals” seen on the…
