NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Like many of us, Nancy Beckim knows the signs.
"I was just laying in bed and thought, 'oh this is a great deal; I don't want to miss this,'" she said.
But in a moment of weakness, the usually-smart shopper was caught off guard.
"And when I checked out was the first time it said your order — for some name I can't pronounce — has been processed," said Beckim.
A Facebook ad took her to what she thought was the Bombas sock company website, but the site was a fake.
"I thought, 'oh my gosh, I've been scammed,'" she said.
Online scams accounted for nearly 40% of all scams reported to the BBB Scam Tracker in 2021.
"It's amazing what a scammer can do to [make you] think you're shopping at a legitimate site," said Robyn Householder, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau serving Middle TN and Southern KY. She said the holidays are prime time for scams.
"You know, gone are the days where scammers are only targeting the elderly," said Householder. "What we see more and more, because so many of us are on our smart devices, is those that fall victim to scams are going to be between 25 and 45."
With shoppers turning to the internet for Cyber Monday, there are some things to remember.
"Please make sure that you're only using your credit card so that if there's ever anything that goes wrong with that transaction, then you have a course of action to take that banks can help you," Householder said.
She said to make sure your antivirus software is up to date, shop with trustworthy sellers on secure sites only, and never respond to unsolicited texts or emails.
"I paid $68 for the twelve pair, and that is what would be half-priced for Bombas, which is, of course, why it was appealing, right?" Beckim said. She hopes her story is a lesson to others this holiday season.
If you think you've been the victim of a scam, call your bank immediately and report the scam to the Better Business Bureau.
