BBB on Cyber Monday: Ways to not fall victim to online scams

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)–As many of those Cyber Monday deals may look too good to be true, some of them just might be. The Better Business Bureau warns online shoppers that 4 out of 5 scams reported to them, involve online purchases, and warns online shoppers to be on the look out as your click through your holiday shopping.

“Scammers know what the hot items are. They know what the shopping trends are so they take advantage especially this time of year, and you don’t want to be caught up in a scam.” said Katarina Schmieder, Communications Director of The Better Business Bureau of Upstate New York. “Trends show more people doing their shopping online especially since the pandemic, so the biggest thing we can recommend is doing your research before making a purchase.”

They suggest to look for the “” in “https” and a lock symbol in the website’s URL to see if it’s a secure website before entering your personal information and to give yourself time to compare prices.

“It’s always going to be best if you go in with a plan, shop around, find out how much a price is before you purchase an item. If you wait until the last minute, that’s when you’ll probably be more likely to run into a scam because you feel like you need an item and you need it quickly.” said Schmieder.

They say gift card scams are up 50% this year, and suggest to avoid using a gift card as payment online, to be aware of fake websites that claim to check the balance of your gift card, and if you see a pop up ad claiming you’ve won a gift card, to scroll past it.

“Another thing that we would strongly recommend, is paying with a credit card, if you do unfortunately run into a scam and you paid with a credit card, most credit card companies have protections in place from scams and fraud–so you’ll be more likely to get your money back.” Schmieder said.

As those packages start arriving at your door step, BBB says to be aware of emails and text messages, claiming you need to change your delivery, payment or shipping information, as those can also be fake.

To see their list of ways to shop safely online, click here , or to report a scam to the Better Business Bureau, click here .

Hope Winter is a reporter and multimedia journalist who has been part of the News 4 team since 2021. See more of her work here .