Some have regarded Black Friday 2015 as yet another scam to benefit sellers. More than that, how do you shop this holiday season without having to lose money over bogus deals? After all, scammers also abound during holiday shopping season to redirect shoppers from legit retailers, getting them to unwittingly hand over some of that well-earned income at a loss.
"We see it every year -- scammers taking advantage of the holiday season to defraud consumers," observed John Breyault, National Consumers League's Fraud Center and Fraud.org website director, as noted by CBS News. "From bogus holiday charity scams to dubious websites that offer shoppers can't miss holiday 'deals,' scammers are adept at taking advantage of consumers' best intentions during the holiday season."
Sellers Without Stock
One of those are shady sites that appear to sell goods but isn't really going to deliver what yo ordered. These domains may appear legit and even have reviews in them. However, a tell-tale sign that things are not what they seem is the kind of reviews featured on the site. Some may sound unnatural or appear to be paid to send in the review. Others may even have stilted grammar or typos.
See to it that you order from sites that have been proven to deliver as promised. Stay away from those you, or even your friends, haven't really heard of yet.
Shady Surveys
According to Waffles at Noon, a recent scam involves a hook that allegedly involves free early entry passes to Walmart on Black Friday.
"You'll be asked to share the page with your friends on Facebook, then you'll be instructed to click a link which takes you to another website that promotes a rewards program," the site said. "This program requires you to perform various tasks such as filling out surveys, purchasing items, and recruiting your friends."
For the record, Walmart isn't giving away any such passes. So, before you click into this scheme, do a bit of research so you don't end up giving something bogus more effort than ignoring it.
Phish and Spam
"Around the holidays, beware of e-cards and messages pretending to be from companies like UPS, Federal Express or major retailers with links to package tracking information," Better Business Bureau warned, as quoted by Time Money.
The solution to this one is simple - never click open any email from senders you don't know or recognize. Or if it's from someone you've transacted with, but haven't bought anything from recently, send the email to the trash right away.
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