BABY FORMULA SCAM ALERT: We're hearing reports of parents who found baby formula for sale online (like Facebook Marketplace), paid for it, and never received a shipment or heard from the seller again.
The national formula shortage is bringing out plenty of scammers across the country who never miss an opportunity to steal your money.
Here are some tips from the FTC on how to protect yourself:
1. Use a search engine to check out the company or product. Use search terms like “review,” “complaint” or “scam.”
2. Only scammers will demand payment by gift card, money transfer or cryptocurrency. Paying with a credit card often provides the most protection; you can sometimes get your money back if you ordered something that never arrived.
3. Know your rights. Sellers are supposed to ship an online order within the time stated in their advertisements (or within 30 days if the ads don’t give a time). If a seller can’t ship by then, it must give you a revised shipping date, with the chance to cancel for a full refund or accept the new shipping date.
4. Search for local resources. For example, your pediatrician may have formula in stock and might be able to help. Participants in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition assistance program can contact their local office to find formula.
More tips from the Better Business Bureau (BBB):
1. Check a store’s accreditation status on BBB.org, which marks a business as an operation that acts "honestly and with integrity."
2. Look up unfamiliar stores in search engines with keywords like "scam," so complaints or fraudulent activity can be uncovered.
3. Take notes and photos of the online store you’re considering ordering from in case the website or account is deactivated. The BBB also recommends documenting the product ordered in case a different item is sent from what was expected.
4. Consider using a credit card for purchases on new websites since credit card companies tend to "provide more protection against fraud" compared to other payment methods, the BBB said.
5. Think about the item you’re purchasing before you enter your payment information. The BBB stressed that consumers should be "especially cautious about email solicitations and online ads on social media sites."
Original source can be found here.
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