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Christmas is an especially joyful time for scammers as the year-end festive season sees a huge spike in unsuspecting consumers getting duped by online scams. At ScamAdviser, we get a large number of complaints from customers who got scammed trying to buy the same product. Advertisements for these products appear on social media and search engines year after year.
Social media ads are flooded with fake ads for cheap knock-offs of popular products from October to January. Here are five of the top Christmas shopping online scams that you need to watch out for:
Our Facebook group Global Scam Fighters blows up every year around Christmas with reports about the Sea Glass Tree scam. Scammers have stolen images from Kristi Pimental of KP Seashell Designs and use them to blast social media with ads promoting cheap plastic trees. The prices listed on scam sites for these trees are simply too good to be true.
When the ‘sea glass’ trees finally arrive after weeks from China, customers are disappointed to find that the trees delivered are made of extremely cheap plastic and look nothing like the images. It’s a classic case of the bait-and-switch scam.
Not only do customers lose money in this scam, but it is also a harrowing experience for the creator of the sea glass trees to see images of herself being used to advertise scams on popular sites such as Amazon.
Fake Advent Calendars are also heavily promoted by scammers, especially on social media platforms such as Facebook. Take a look below at an example of an Advent Calendar scam:
All suspicions about the price being unbelievable are confirmed when the actual product arrived. The below images were shared in our group by customers who fell for the Advent Calendar scam:
Scammers don’t just steal images, they steal entire videos too. The NAO Artificial Intelligence robot is another favourite of scammers, as the real NAO robot is capable of incredible things. However, it also costs upwards of $6,900 unlike the $30-$50 as advertised by scammers.
Waldorf dolls are a type of doll made using natural materials like wool and cotton. Each doll is typically handmade by skilled artists. Waldorf doll-makers selling their creations through platforms such as Etsy and Facebook have found themselves becoming victims of the Waldorf Doll scam.
Similar to the Sea Glass Tree scam, scammers have stolen images from genuine creators and use the pictures to promote cheap dolls that have no resemblance to Waldorf dolls. Some confused and angry customers who get scammed then contact the original Waldorf doll creators and accuse them of being scammers!
Xmas-themed fence peekers are an upcoming hot product for Christmas shopping scams. Images of creations by artist JOPAWoodworking on Etsy that usually sell for $100-$200 are being offered for just $19.99 on scam sites! Needless to say, customers are likely to receive cheap copies.
This list should give you a good idea about the tactics that shopping scammers use to bait-and-switch shoppers. Never blindly trust ads on social media platforms no matter how flashy they are, as all the content for the ad may have been stolen from genuine artists and companies. Even if the ad seems convincing, low prices should tip you off!
