CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A Clarksville man is warning online shoppers after he received the wrong product from a fake website.
Michael Luette said his wife had been looking to buy a greenhouse. She found a deal online and texted him a link to make the purchase. So, Luette bought the greenhouse, or so he thought.
“I ended up getting a pair of gloves instead. When I got it, I didn’t even know what it was. My wife opened it and said did you order gloves? I said no – It didn’t really have where it came from either,” explained Luette.
Robyn Householder, President & CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Middle Tennessee & Southern Kentucky told News 2 Amazon Prime Day is just another chance for scammers to try and capitalize on the buzz of online shopping.
“The type of shopping we are doing has really grown. We’re buying more pets online, more household goods online, clothing online. We are really buying just about anything online,” said Householder.
According to the BBB, in Middle Tennessee, the average loss per consumer is just over $300. Nationally, that loss is around $100.
Luette told News 2 after he received the wrong item he started looking into the website. He eventually traced it to a company in China. This company has several customer complaints on a Facebook page called ‘Rous Store’.
“I found other people had the same thing where they got a pair of gloves. And I emailed them several times about the issue, and they just give you the run around saying – that’s what you ordered,” said Luette.
Householder said scammers are becoming more sophisticated in tricking the average shopper.
“One of the ways they build confidence in the consumer is by giving them a tracking number. Unfortunately, the product they end up getting is not the product they actually bought. Just because you get a tracking number, doesn’t mean it’s legitimate,” explained Householder.
Luette said it’s all about doing your homework before purchasing a product. “If you’re looking for something specific and you find it somewhere on the website, don’t always go with the cheap price you really have to check into the website.”
Householder said consumers should always report these type of scams using their Scam Tracker tool.
“Make sure you report it. Go to BBB.org/scamtracker and that’s sort of a heat map for where activity is going on in the marketplace. Please let us know so we can work with the appropriate agencies and try to shut it down,” said Householder.
The Scam Tracker tool is a resource for victims and BBB officials. They use it both as an educational tool to make sure other consumers don’t fall victim to the same scams and also share the data with the Attorney General’s Office and the Federal Trade Commission. Householder said this is so they can observe what is going on and shut it down.
If you would like to report a scam, click here to use the Scam Tracker tool now.
