MICHIGAN, USA — Online purchase scams made the top of the list of scams in West Michigan in 2023, this is the third year in a row they've made the number one spot.
Kaite Grevious with the Better Business Bureau of West Michigan says while this scam is not new, they found that more of these scams were on social media this past year.
She says a lot of them started with social media links, sponsored ads, or even clicking on links that redirected somebody to a website they thought was legitimate.
People lost the most money through online pet scams, where people thought they were buying a furry friend to bring home.
West Michigander Kenneth Hayes says he was a victim of this type of scam this past year.
He says he lost $800 after thieves convinced him he was buying a puppy online from a legitimate website. The website turned out to be fake.
“But it wasn't until of course, afterwards that I Googled Johnson Pitbull puppies, and everybody was saying that they're a scam. So, I never googled the website itself. But being on the website, everything seemed right as rain. You know, so yeah, it's, it's the main thing that's frustrating is that they got me,” said Hayes.
He says he realized it was a scam after he was contacted by a fake airline shipping company and was asked to pay more money to be paid via Zelle for a shipping crate for the dog.
Grevious says it’s not surprising that scams like these happen because scammers are purposely using our interest in certain products or items to lure us into their scams.
“They're using well-known name brands, or they craft their website to seem like it is selling those well-known products or that brand that we're familiar with. But one piece of slightly off that if we're not diligent, we're going to miss and then we're going to give them our payment information.”
Hayes says he was unable to get his money back. But he hopes his story will help others avoid being scammed.
As far as other top scams, phishing scams came in at number two. That’s when you receive an email or text that there’s a problem with your account and you need to click on a link to fix it.
And employment scams came in at number three. That’s when you think you are applying for a legitimate company and you’re sharing your personal information with scammers.
For more information on scams and how to avoid them you can visit bbb.org or michigan.gov.
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