Instagram Scams and How to Avoid Them

Описание: Alright this one is for all of you Instagrammers out there.

Have you ever been cruising on Instagram and you see an ad for a hilarious t-shirt, or a funny mug. You’ll probably tag your best friend and keep scrolling right?

But what if you see something really tempting, like Ray-Bans for $24.99.

Okay, for anyone not familiar with Ray-Bans, let me tell you - I bought my wife some Wayfarers for Christmas last year, they were definitely not as cheap as this.

So being the curious BBB employee I am, I tweeted Ray-Ban to see what was up.

They had this to say:

“This seems like a fraud website, we recommend using http://ray-ban.com for a 100% safe purchase. Thanks for checking in!”

Sadly the Ray-Ban site was a scam after all. And Ray-Bans aren’t the only ones who are being copycatted by scam artists.

Internet criminals set up fake websites and try selling name brand shoes, gym clothes, watches, you name it - they’ve copied it.

So before buying on Instagram, or any other social media app, here’s 3 ways to vet a business:

Check on bbb.org. Look for the company’s rating, customer reviews, and complaints. If they don’t have a record with Better Business Bureau, continue to number two and three and buy with caution.
Check out the website.
Do they have a privacy policy?
Is the URL secure - does it begin with httpS? S stands for secure.
Check out the social media icons - do they lead to actual social media accounts, if so what are other reviewers saying about them?
Trust your gut. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

And if you just absolutely need that Betty White mug, use a credit card, instead of a debit card. That way you can dispute the charge within sixty business days.

If you think you’ve spotted a scam, report it at bbb.org/scamtracker.

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