Valentine's Day Scams To Watch For With The Better Business Bureau

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and unfortunately so are the scams that come with it. Amie Mitchell with the Better Business Bureau joined News On 6 to talk about some of the things to look out for.

Autumn: All right, so we're about a little less than two weeks out. And so a lot of people, you know, they're buying those items for their significant others. We know flowers and jewelry are some of those top purchases for many people, what are some things they need to look out for?

Amie: So, we want consumers to be cautious because right now people scammers know you're looking for products online. So they may steal images, or even sale ads that look real to get you to click on something in order to get your money. Be careful and do your investigation first to make sure you're dealing with a legitimate company, that you're going to get those flowers or that ring or whatever it is that you're wanting at the price that you're wanting, make sure you use a credit card if a company starts asking for odd forms of payment through a different method of a cash app or something like that, be really cautious because that's a big warning of a scam.

Autumn: You mentioned, like photographs and you know, that may not look real is what how can you detect. So

Amie: So, you can do a reverse Google image to see if that image has been used on other platforms to see if it is actually associated with the legitimate website, or if they just pulled it down to make it look real. So do the reverse Google image. Yeah. All right.

Autumn: And not only the flowers and all that kind of stuff. romance scams are on the rise during this time as well. What do people need to know?

Amie: Right? So, when you think of Valentine's Day, you think of falling in love. And there are a lot of wonderful online sites where you can go and find a partner. But we do recommend using some caution because scammers will use that pull at the heartstrings of love. And they might start saying I love you very often, they may try to pull you away from that site, whether it be going to text messages or something different. And then they start to ask for money. And that's where this game really comes in. They get your hard screw strings involved. And I love you, I love you now send me some money. We do encourage consumers to try to have a FaceTime or an in person meeting with this person before you send any kind of financial information or really any personal information to them.

Autumn: No, that's always important. And if you believe you may have fallen victim to one of these scams, hopefully, that doesn't happen to people at home. But what's what do you need to do?

Amie: So you need to report it to the BBB I would recommend using caution and checking out the company before you actually do the purchase or sign up for the website or anything like that. But if you do fall victim, report it to the Better Business Bureau. We'll try to help you get your money back or anything we can to assist.

Autumn: What are some tools that you all are able to use to help

Amie: So, we investigate and then we look at the company and we try to change their methods in which they deal with the consumer. If it's a legitimate business, then we try to change their practices. So those are a little more ebb and flow and the scammers we try to shut them down. Try to shut them down so that they can't scam anybody else.