Avoid online shopping scams & fake review schemes this holiday season | FOX 10 Talks

All right, yeah. We've got Joe Ducey in studio with us this morning, you guys. Two of the really important stuff. Yes, yes. Stay away from that stuff. You've got a big title, Vice President of Public Engagement and Investigative Outreach for the Better Business Bureau. Yeah, how do you make that up, man? They just had to come up with a title, I guess. I always say, I'm with the BBB. Thank People are watching you. Yeah, that's the BBB, not the BBC. Correct? Do we have it? I can't do that. I'll do that. Okay. And people are watching. They're like, wait a minute. Aren't you on a different channel? Well, you were for a long time. You were on the ABC station here in town. Worked with Big D, as a matter of fact. I did. I did. The man. The man back there. you. He's got a good gig here. Yeah, he really does. But anyway, yeah. All right. So you're with the Better Business Bureau. What's your focus and what's your main message you want people to know as they get ready? Because let's face it, it's November. It's time to shop. Yeah, we can talk a lot about online shopping, because online shopping all year is the biggest scam we see for Scam Tracker. I mean, because most people do their shopping online, right? Holidays, though, it's even worse. Scammers know that there's money in it, so they're going for it with all kinds of things. But I want to talk real quickly about something else. It's a holiday scam. Okay. Have you heard of the brushing scam? No. No. What is that? All right. So people are writing us and saying that they are getting these packages that are delivered. They're unexpected. So they're looking at their house and they're like, oh my God, there's a pack. What could it be? Could it be a holiday gift? Could it be a belated birthday gift? What could it be? They open it up and they're getting things like, I'm going to read you some of the things. 50 unknown seeds, one very ugly dress, laundry bag, 26 envelopes, a key chain, 40 patches, a plate. So they're getting these weird, worthless things. Like literally one plate and a box. Or 20 envelopes that are just there. This is odd. It is odd. So what's happening, it's called a brushing scam in most of these cases. And what's happening is these third-party scammers are sending worthless things to people. Once the delivery is confirmed, they've had the person's name and address, and they're writing fake reviews for the products. Saying that they were delivered on time, beautiful product, all these things in your name. In order to help the sale of whatever company that they're working for. So you're getting envelopes. They're writing about some other product and writing fake reviews for it, which sounds weird. Now, in these cases, if you want the worthless product, you can keep it. The law says basically if you have something you didn't order, you can keep. And you think, okay, well, this isn't really hurting me in any way. Well, your name and address are out there. And you're also helping these fake reviews for companies that people probably shouldn't be involved with. A lot of them are coming out of a place in Rancho Cucamonga, California, and in Sugarland, Texas. So anyway, if you get one of these packages, go to BBB, Scam Tracker, Unknown Seeds. Don't plant them. Don't plant them. Don't eat them. Don't do anything with them. Don't eat them either. Don't eat them. And now they're coming also with QR codes. So you don't want to scan the code because you don't know where it's going to go. But yeah, that's one. And during the holidays, you see a lot of that because people are confused about packages, and they know it. It's like, oh, maybe I did get a package. I don't know. So, yeah, look at those things. That's a brushing scam. And these packages are going to people all across the country? Yeah, all across the country. But I was looking at Arizona, and I saw a lot of them in Arizona. Really? Yeah. And they happen to come from different places, but there are some common addresses. And we're looking into that now. The Better Business Bureau is looking into that. Why from this one address and what that business really is. But yeah, a lot of people are online shopping and there are a lot of things to worry about. A lot of people are getting fake, they're going through social media and that's one of the big problems. You go through Facebook Marketplace and you click on a link and you don't know where you're going. And so they're buying things and they're getting. They think they're getting, you know, something and they're getting something that's nothing like what they ordered or they're not getting anything at all. They're spending money and they're not getting anything. A lot of these are sites you've never heard of before, URLs that you're not sure. Sure. Um, So that's one of the big problems involving online shopping. So if it's not, what, like a big brand that you know or like, you know, a link to a big department store? And even if it is, even if it is. It's a danger to click on it because it could go to someplace totally different. I saw a fake Macy's site. So you think you're going to Macy's and it's macysco.com or macysbig.com. Well, and how would you know the difference once you're there? Well, that's, you know, the URL should say that. The URL should say where you're going. And I think before you click on it, well, you need to know where you're, I would go to macys.com and see if I can get that deal separately. So that's, I would do my own due diligence and do that. And any of these companies, I think the other thing is, and people get into scams all the time. Some of it's homework. I mean, some of it's knowing if they see a business, look it up. Go to BBB.org and look at reviews. Put the name of the company and complaints on front of general search. You've done that probably before and just seen, you know, what's come up. And you can tell that, oh, this is a scam. This is a fake company. This is, you know, BBB Scam Tracker has many complaints against it. So that's one way to avoid those problems. And using credit cards is another big, big way. A lot of these fake places will want cash, they'll want cash apps, they'll want... Wiring money, those kinds of things. If you've got a credit card, you can use it. You've got some protections later to fight it because they haven't gotten into your bank account yet, like they would with a debit account. All right, one of our viewers, Buddha Sheep, says, so do we report that kind of thing to the BBB when we get one of these packages, or are you just trying to raise awareness? Both. I'm trying to raise awareness to let people know what they're getting and what they can do with it, and the QR codes not to get. The other thing is, yeah, go to BBB Scam Tracker, and you can put it in there that it's going on so other people can know. I think it's a great place for people to look to see what the latest scams are and to see, hey, I got a package. Other people did too. Yeah, it's a scam. And also, I'd let the FTC know. I'd let the Attorney General's office know. I'd let everybody know. Yeah. Yeah. I just got an email this morning, and it said, this is like a new way they're doing it. They're just confirming your order, like you already, and it was from, let's see, Vajana Chavez, claiming to be with one of these... I don't want to say the name because I don't want to throw them under the bus, but it's one of these companies that will protect your identity. And they're just confirming that they have charged my credit card $423.43. I know it's a scam, but I'm afraid that people who aren't skeptical, like I am, or like a lot of people are, will just simply click on it to say, no, no, no, and the next thing you know, you're going down a rabbit hole and you might end up actually providing them your credit card info. That right now is probably one of the biggest money-taking scams that we see. Not just for the holiday season, but all. You've got something. I just talked to a woman. It was Apple. It wasn't Apple, but it was fake Apple. And they said, hey, you did whatever it was. You have this charge of $250 or something. She said, no, I didn't. And she calls the place. She ends up calling them, talking to them. She lost $300,000. Yeah, because they keep talking. Yeah, they got into her bank account. They said, hey, we need to get into your account to give you the money back or whatever it was. They got into her account. It happened, and she's back and forth with them. And it's almost like gambling in a way. Once you're scammed, you need to get that money back so you can't lose control, and they need another $1,000 to get the... So you're giving more and more and more, and you're never getting anything. Well, we're already up to the break. We've got to bring you back because it sounds like you've got a lot of info you can share with us. So one more time, you just go to BBB, go to ScamTracker. BBB.org, yeah, and ScamTracker would be great. Report a scam, search a scam. And check companies for reviews. All right, thank you so much. Yep.