Shortages in the supply of baby formula are making new moms vulnerable to potential online scams, according to the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
How the scam works:
When an ad, post, or social media group says they have baby formula available, the interested buyer contacts the seller via chat or direct message, showing photos of the cans available.
The buyer makes a payment through a peer-to-peer platform such as PayPal or Venmo, but the formula never arrives.
Officials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the agency is taking proactive measures to increase supply to help ease the shortage.
Signs of a potential online purchase scam include:
- Positive reviews on the website that have been copied from honest sites or created by scammers. Be aware, that some review websites claim to be independent but are funded by scammers. Click here to search BBB businesses.
- No indication of a brick-and-mortar address or the address shows on a Google map as a parking lot, residence, or unrelated business than what is listed on the website.
- Misspellings, grammatical errors, or other descriptive languages that are inconsistent with the product.
- The seller advertises on a social media site and is communicative until the payment is made. Once the payment clears, they are unreachable.
Check out the website before making a purchase:
- Visit BBB.org to check a business’s rating and BBB accreditation status. Impostors have been known to copy the BBB seal. If it is real, clicking on the seal will lead to the company’s BBB profile on BBB.org. Check the domain of the URL.
- Conduct an internet search with the company name and the word “scam.” This may locate other complaints about the site.
- Make a note of the website where the order is placed. Take a screenshot of the item ordered, in case the website disappears, or a different item is received in the mail than what was advertised.
- Credit cards often provide more protection against fraud than other payment methods.
- Think before you click. Be especially cautious about email solicitations and online ads on social media sites.
According to the 2021 BBB Scam Tracker Risk Report, online shopping scams are the riskiest.