Get Me Out Of Here button

Sniffing Out a Website Scam

A few weeks ago, I wrote an entire post dedicated to cool items I’ve discovered thanks to Instagram ads. However, this week my wife and I had a slightly different experience on the platform — one that almost led us right into a potential scam.

To set the stage without getting into too much detail, my wife was looking on Instagram and saw an advertisement in her Stories about a site that was allegedly liquidating one of their product lines. As they noted, to do this, they were offering some of their duffel bags for “free,” with customers only covering the shipping and handling. Now, I know what you’re thinking and, yes, we were already quite skeptical to begin with. However, when we arrived on the site, it didn’t look half bad and there were other bags that, while discounted, weren’t the “free” ones that had been advertised. So maybe it wasn’t too good to be true after all? (Narrator: “It was.”)

Before getting our hopes up and certainly before entering any of our personal information, we decided to take a few additional steps to see if everything was on the up and up. As it turns out, it’s a good thing we did. If you find yourself in a similar situation and want to avoid falling for such a scam, here are three quick things you can do:

star ratings

Search for reviews

The first thing I would do if you’re skeptical of a website is to look for user reviews. Now, I actually tend to hate most online reviews as I find them to either be bitterly and unfairly negative or suspiciously and uniformly positive with little in between. Still, the practice of seeking out these reviews should at least help give you a better idea about whether or not you’re walking into trouble.

Incidentally, when I practiced this step, I came across something more concerning: little mention of the company whatsoever. Obviously, this can be an even larger sign that something is off and that you might want to put your credit card away.

Scrutinize their social media

One of the ways I’ve seen fake news outlets fool people in my Facebook feed is by having a domain that’s remarkably similar to an actual, credible news outlet. Similarly, just yesterday I saw a hoax going around from a Twitter user that changed their display name and avatar to mirror SportsCenter, with few noticing that the username was quite different. I mention this because, initially, I thought perhaps the site I was seeing was merely ripping off a known brand. Thus, I went to look for the real brand’s social accounts and check their profile to see if the URLs matched up.

As I noted, this plan proved problematic since I couldn’t find much about the brand on the Internet or social media. However, I did find it curious that the site I was looking at didn’t have any social account links on their homepage. But, of course, we did find the site via an Instagram ad in the first place, so we looked on there. Once on their IG profile, we realized they had only posted a few images — and all of them in recent days. This brings me to my last point…

WWW (World Wide Web)

Check their website registration

Another easy way to see if a site might not be legit is to look up their domain registration. This can be done on a number of websites but I typically use Lookup.ICANN.org. Once there, just enter the domain you’re looking for and hit “lookup.”

In this case, what I think is the most telling bit of info is the “Created” date. Oftentimes these scam sites do get shutdown quickly or choose to hop around, so a freshly-created site may be a red flag. Sure enough, when we were investigating the site we had questions about, we discovered that it had been registered just a day prior to when we were viewing it. That was really the final straw for me.


So, was the site we were looking at a scam? Well, it depends on your definition of “scam.” When I was searching for more info on the company, the only thing I came across was a Reddit thread about similar-sounding sites but with slightly different URLs. One user on there said that, as I expected, the shipping cost on the item was extremely high but that they actually did receive a product. Thus, the going theory among those Redditors was that these sites were run by drop-shippers trying to make their cheap wares seem of higher quality while also getting people to somehow overpay for what was supposed to be a “free” item. If true, I suppose that’s better than just taking people’s money and giving them nothing in return… but it’s definitely still shady.

Ultimately, while I’m sure we would have bailed when we saw the shipping price regardless, I’m glad we took the time to dive a little deeper before we entered any of our information. By the way, we also attempted to flag the ad and account for Instagram just in case these practices go against their policies. Still, while it would probably behoove IG to clean up trash like this from their platform, it’s ultimately up to you to sniff out these scams and keep yourself safe.

Author
Founder ~ Moneyat30
Kyle is a freelance writer - including being the head writer for Fioney.com. He also serves as editorial director for the Disney fan site LaughingPlace.com and the founder of Money@30.com. In 2015, Kyle and his wife Bekah moved from Los Angeles to Springfield MO in pursuit of greater financial freedom. Together, the pair enjoy travel, coffee, and spending time with their dog Rigby. Additionally, as of 2023, they become first-time homeowners.
Other Articles by Kyle Burbank
person standing in front of exploding fireworks
Hey You Kids, Get Off My Lawn!
With last Friday being July 4th, I decided to take a week off from posting. However, I wanted to share a story from that night (or, really, early the next morning). Backing up, last year, we learned that our neighbors loved fireworks. So we were prepared for a few hours of noise and helping our...
Venetian rewards gems
Travel Tuesday: The Venetian Surveying Guests on Possible Rewards Credit Card
Late last year, I had a chance to cross another Las Vegas Strip property off my list with a stay at The Palazzo at The Venetian. Whether because of that or because I opened a players club card with them as well, this week The Venetian sent me a survey regarding a potential rewards credit...
Allbirds 4th of July sale logo
Allbirds is Celebrating Independence Day with a 50% Off Sale
One funny thing about summer is how a sunny day can quickly turn into a heavy downpour. This is even more prominent in certain parts of the country where you may be headed on a summer vacation (I'm looking at you, Florida!). So, given that weather reality, it makes perfect sense that Allbirds would be...

Leave a Reply

Featured Articles
Hey You Kids, Get Off My Lawn!
With last Friday being July 4th, I decided to take a week off from posting. However, I wanted to share a story from that night (or, really, early the next morning). Backing up, last year, we learned that our neighbors loved fireworks. So we were prepared for a few hours of noise and helping our...
Travel Tuesday: The Venetian Surveying Guests on Possible Rewards Credit Card
Late last year, I had a chance to cross another Las Vegas Strip property off my list with a stay at The Palazzo at The Venetian. Whether because of that or because I opened a players club card with them as well, this week The Venetian sent me a survey regarding a potential rewards credit...
Allbirds is Celebrating Independence Day with a 50% Off Sale
One funny thing about summer is how a sunny day can quickly turn into a heavy downpour. This is even more prominent in certain parts of the country where you may be headed on a summer vacation (I'm looking at you, Florida!). So, given that weather reality, it makes perfect sense that Allbirds would be...
An Amex Platinum Card Revamp is Coming — And I'm Worried
Earlier this week, Chase confirmed pretty much every rumor that had been swirling for the past couple of months by announcing details on a major refresh for its uber popular Sapphire Reserve card. When this refresh launches next week (or in October for current cardholders), it will bring new credits, a reimagined rewards-earning system, and...