An urgent new warning from the Federal Trade Commission is sounding the alarm that thieves have begun to swarm the shortage for their own illicit profit, “popping up online and tricking desperate parents and caregivers into paying steep prices for formula that never arrives.”
“Scammers exploiting the high demand for baby formula have sunk to new lows,” the bulletin says, warning that schemes may make fake websites or profiles on social media using product images and logos of household-name formula brands, “all to make you think you’re buying products from the companies’ official websites,” the FTC said.
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The government agency’s alert marks the latest in a rapidly growing groundswell of similar cautions: seven states around the country are now advising parents to stay vigilant amid the formula frenzy.
“Parents of infants in North Carolina are struggling to feed their babies during the current baby formula shortage. But instead of helping parents in this perilous position, scammers are looking to take advantage of this crisis to steal a quick buck,” North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein’s office said Wednesday.
“Parents, feeling the pressures of the shortage, may find…
