Watch out for online shopping scams as holiday shopping season kicks into high gear

The COVID-19 pandemic means more people will be shopping online

DETROIT – Holiday shopping season is kicking into high gear and because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, more people will be shopping online.

Melanie Duquesnel is the president of the Better Business Bureau serving Eastern Michigan.

“If a deal appears to be too good to be true, it probably is,” Duquesnel said. “Buy items off secure websites and use a credit card, it provides more safety.”

Con artists are posing as Amazon employees, calling people, and claiming to need information about their account, according to the Better Business Bureau.

The scammers call and when you answer you get a recorded message claiming to be from Amazon stating there is a problem with your Amazon account. Scammers also send emails or texts, asking you to verify your personal information -- all so they can steal it.

Watch the video above for the full report


About the Authors

Hank Winchester is Local 4’s Consumer Investigative Reporter and the head of WDIV’s “Help Me Hank” Consumer Unit. Hank works to solve consumer complaints, reveal important recalls and track down thieves who have ripped off people in our community.

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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