Planning To Buy Roses On Valentine’s Day? Steer Clear of These Flower Scams
On Valentine's Day, people are looking at new ways to shower love on their precious ones. Traditional ways like buying your loved ones flowers can never go wrong. According to the National Retail Federation, Valentine's Day spending can reach a record $14.2 billion this year and a lot of money will go toward flowers, as per CNBC. If you are also one of the people who are planning to buy flowers, you need to steer clear of flower scams.
According to Better Business Bureau's Scam Tracker, one customer, who ordered flowers worth $80 online, said, "Received an email same day stating order for flowers couldn’t be made, and a full refund will be issued in 2-3 days. Six weeks later and four phone calls to customer service, still no refund."
"Searched for local florists online and placed an order. The flowers were never delivered. The phone number on the website does not work and I received no response to an email complaint," the customer continued.
"Ordered same-day delivery flowers and they never came. The phone number is fake and the live chat they offered doesn’t exist. Unable to get a refund," the customer signed off.
Sadly, there are very few ways to tell if the website is a fake one as they are amazing at "mirroring websites and creating fake websites," as per Paula Fleming with the BBB Boston. She urges everybody to pay proper attention to the website before purchasing and research thoroughly in advance. She asks everybody to check if there's an 'S' so you know that it's a secure website. It's also wise to use a credit card to buy things so that you can take the neccessary steps, in case it's a scam.
Any credit card offers the best possible protection when you are ordering something online. If your flowers fail to arrive, then you can dispute the charge with your credit card company and they will likely help you to reverse the transaction.
It's important to remember that scammers are always looking for opportunities to steal your sensitive data and your money. A popular tactic as per Meta Compliance is cybercriminals creating fake electronic greeting cards or messages. These cards look harmless and claim to contain a heartfelt note, a romantic scam, or a digital gift. However, once you tap on it, it redirects you to a website that is designed to steal all your personal information as well as login credentials and more. In the season of love, it's also a great idea to be cautious of any romance scams. As per data, romance scams are one of the leading scams currently.
To shield yourself from phishing scams, it's important to think twice before you click on anything. Another great thing to do is to always verify the sender's information. Exercising caution can always make you less susceptible to these issues. This means always buying from verified and trusted sources, checking the URL for any spelling mistakes and other fishy signs, and keeping everything updated so that your operating system can use the antivirus software. Using TFA or MFA which is Two Factor Authentication or Multi-Factor Authentication can also be helpful as it adds an extra layer of security. Also, make sure to call the online number of the source you are buying from, or check for reviews that can tell you that they are reliable. Also, it's a good idea to look at the floral departments at your nearest grocery shop.