(The center Square) – Scammers are getting sophisticated and even the most cautious are falling for their deceitful tactics.
Steve Bernas, president and CEO of the Chicago and Northern Illinois Better Business Bureau, said doctors, attorneys and teachers are among those who report being scammed.
“These scammers know what they are doing,” Bernas told The Center Square. “They know how to entice you. They know how to grab your attention. And unfortunately, people fall victim to it.”
Fifty-six percent of people who report scams to the BBB say they were not shopping when they fell victim to an ad.
“Consumers think they are safe because they are on a well-known website like Facebook or Instagram,” Bernas said. “They run into scammers with fake accounts.”
In most cases, consumers think they are buying a brand-name product and they wind up with a fake Chinese-made look-alike. Or they pay for something and the product is never delivered.
Many scammers take advantage of people’s desires for deals.
“They create a sense of urgency. ‘This is too good of a deal to pass up.’ And that’s how the scammers do it,” Bernas said.
Consumers mistakenly believe there is protection because the ad is on Facebook or Instagram but the scammer gets the ad posted before Facebook finds them.
“It’s like whack-a-mole. One scam pops up, another one comes down,…
