CINCINNATI — Data from the National Retail Federation shows Americans are expected to spend more than $35 billion on Mother’s Day this year.
That’s $4 billion more than the record that was set a year ago. But the Better Business Bureau is warning people to be cautious while shopping online this year, as scammers are looking to take your money.
Mother’s Day is a great time to celebrate the women who mean the most to us, so finding that special gift is important. But Lee Ann Lanigan with the Central Ohio BBB said be careful while on your search.
“Mother’s Day often brings online shoppers, and the Better Business Bureau knows that online shopping is like, year-after-year, one of the most riskiest scams that consumers engage in,” said Lanigan.
Flowers are one of the most popular items consumers are expected to buy this year. Lanigan said it’s better to shop local with a florist than to buy them online.
“Often times, if you rely on Googling a phone number to have flowers delivered, you may end up with a company that you don’t recognize and you may not be happy with the arrangement,” she said.
Electronics, jewelry and gift cards are other popular gift items, and if for whatever reason you decide to shop online, Lanigan said it’s important to avoid the pop-up ads because it could be a fake website.
“Whatever the item that you bought is either never delivered or it’s received and it’s nothing like what you thought you were going to get,” she said.
To avoid losing your money to a scammer, make sure to always use your credit card. That’s because it has more protections than a debit card.
“If you authorize that with your debit card, they say that’s the same as handing them cash,” she said. “And you do not have those protections you would find with your branded credit card.”
If you’re in doubt and question whether a business is legitimate or not, Lanigan said always look them up on the Better Business Bureau website.
“We’ll tell you what the company is rated, whether they’ve received complaints, what kind of customer reviews they’ve had and you can make a judgement as to whether or not that’s going to be a safe purchase for you,” she said.
