In 2024, online shopping scams

were the second most reported type of fraud

contributing to $12.5 billion in losses.

But you may not have heard of one of the newest scams

targeting homes around America.

Today, we’re doing a deep dive into online shopping scams.

This is Incognito Mode.

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The prevalence of fake websites rose 790% in early 2025.

That’s all thanks to AI,

making it super easy to make a fake website

that could look like a totally legitimate place,

maybe a story you already shop at.

But the site is totally illegitimate,

and is there to just steal your money or your information.

Scammers are now taking advantage of those sold out signs

by setting up fake websites.

[Speaker 1] So there’s your Lowery’s, there’s your Canton.

If we scroll down here and look at our AI-generated friends,

this guy down here at the Canton Farm Equipment T-shirt

and his cowboy hat on,

apparently he works for Lowery’s Equipment too

because they’re both right there.

Scammers trick people into going to fake websites

in a couple of different ways.

One is to create URLs

that are just one letter off from a legitimate business.

Not only does the URL look almost the same,

but the website looks identical

to the site you’re actually trying to visit,

so you’re not gonna notice you’re getting scammed.

Another way they get you is a technique called DNS spoofing,

where you type in the actual URL,

but it takes you to the scammer site.

The domain name system or DNS

is basically the internet’s phone book.

When you type in a website, say, wired.com,

DNS converts wired.com into an IP address,

which is actually how the computers

communicate with each other.

By corrupting the DNS cache,

scammers essentially trick your browser

into taking you to a fraudulent site

instead of the one you’re actually trying to visit.

Once you’re on the fake website,

you’re at the whims of whatever the scam is.

They might try to trick you into placing an order

that you’re never gonna get,

and stealing your credit card of information

or taking your money, or otherwise stealing your data.

Really, whatever the scammer wants to do

with the fake website, they’re gonna do it.

Of course that’s just one type of scam you could encounter.

Online shopping is a minefield these days.

So here are some other scams you should look out for.

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AI is helping fuel all types of new scams.

One AI-fueled scam is creating websites that sell products

that don’t actually exist

or nothing like they look in the photos.

The way the scam used to work

is that someone would set up a website

and steal photos from another site

and pretend to be selling those products.

But that made it pretty easy to get caught.

If you’re searching for, say, a new couch,

you’re probably looking at a bunch of different websites

and seeing a bunch of different photos,

and when you land on the scam website,

you might notice that those images

were taken from another website,

and they might set off your alarm bells.

With AI, scammers can create entirely new images

of entirely new products,

so you might buy a product that doesn’t actually exist

and you never receive anything,

or you get something that looks nothing like

what you saw in the photos.

You see, I purchased this cat bed

thinking I was going to get a legitimate cat bed.

Why would I be such a fool?

This is what I got instead.

I kid you not. This is the size of the cat bed.

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These days, it’s impossible to separate

social media from shopping.

The algorithms know you so well

that you just get recommended things you just wanna buy.

But as with everything, scammers are there too.

One common social media scam is fake coupons

where they offer you crazy deals

on something you’ve been looking for,

say, 80% off a pair of nice sunglasses or a baby stroller.

Then when you go to buy the thing you’re looking for,

you never actually get it,

or they send you something that’s totally different

than what you ordered.

One of the more advanced versions of this scam

is where they get you to sign up for coupon subscriptions.

They make you pay for a membership for coupons

that are either worthless or never arrive.

Another version of the coupon scam

is the disgruntled employee scam.

You may have seen this on TikTok or Instagram reels

where someone claims to be a disgruntled employee

who got fired or is about to quit,

and so they’re giving over

their super secret employee discount code.

When you go to purchase whatever you’re trying to buy,

the code works.

But as you add items to your cart,

you might notice that the shipping costs

go up disproportionately.

But hey, you’re getting a great deal,

so you probably don’t care.

Unfortunately, after you place the order,

either you don’t get anything

or whatever you bought isn’t what you were expecting.

It’s really easy to get goated into impulse buys

on social media.

One scam takes advantage of this

by having a fake going-out-of-business sale,

where you think everything in the store is 30 or 50% off.

And you go and you buy, say, a nice luxury towel,

but when you get it, it’s just some cheap towel

that you could have bought for $5 from anywhere.

And if you go back and look at the page,

that business is still going out of business

over and over and over again.

[Speaker 1] Is joanbags.com legit?

With AI-generated owner photos, a brand new domain,

fake claims, massive discounts, stolen images,

and no real customer reviews,

it’s looking like a major red flag.

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One scam you’ve probably already experienced

is fake shipping scams,

where you get a fake text message

from UPS or FedEx that says your package has been delayed

or they need some more information

to deliver your package successfully.

These scams work because

everybody’s buying so much online all the time,

people kind of expect to get alerts for packages

that might be on the way.

When you click the links, however,

they might ask you to insert your information

that they’re just gonna steal,

or they may even install malware on your device.

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This scam is mostly notable for just being so scammy.

These scams can target you in all types of ways,

from emails, to social media posts and online ads,

to crowdfunding platforms, and even cold calls.

These scams often trick people

by creating a sense of urgency.

For example, someone might ask you to donate

to an animal shelter that’s about to close,

and if you don’t donate,

all the animals are gonna get euthanized.

That’s a really potent way

to get somebody to hand over cash really quickly.

These types of scams spike around the holiday season

when people are looking to donate to good causes.

A particularly gross version of these

pop up after almost every natural disaster.

Charities will pop up seemingly out of nowhere

and trick you into thinking you’re giving to people

who are really in need right then,

but they’re just taking your money

and they’re gonna quickly disappear

as soon as those events are out of the news.

An unexpected scam is the sale of pets online.

This is fueled by a scarcity

of really highly desirable breeds, really rare ones,

but the Better Business Bureau estimates

that 80% of sponsored ads for pet sales could be fake.

The Better Business Bureau says online puppy scams

are easy to fall victim to

because they appealed to people’s emotions.

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One of the newest online scams

starts by not being online at all.

Known as brushing,

this scam involves someone sending you a package

that you didn’t order,

and it doesn’t have much information.

The package you receive looks legitimate.

It has your name and address on a label,

but there’s no return address.

As you look at the package trying to figure out

who sent it, where it came from,

you’ll probably spot a QR code,

which you’re expected to scan.

This will take you to a website

that looks totally legitimate, but it’s not.

The new unique scam involving a mysterious package

showing up on your doorstep

and an even more mysterious QR code.

[Reporter] Then they mail or ship products

making it seem like a real transaction has taken place,

and write a fake review,

posing as the person who received the product.

Once you enter your personal information,

then it’s kind of like any other scam.

Now they have your data,

and they can use it to target you for other scams,

sell your data,

or do any number of other things

that might target you for future scams or fraud.

So if you receive a package that you didn’t expect

and it only has a QR code on it,

maybe just count it as a win

and keep the free thing that you got,

and don’t enter any information

into any website that you don’t trust.

So what can you do to avoid getting scammed?

First, make sure you’re shopping at retailers you trust.

Always pay close attention

to the URL of the site you’re visiting.

Look for any extra characters

or anything that might look off.

As you’re adding things to your cart,

you might even wanna take a step back

and open up the site in another browser or on another device

and go through the process again

just to make sure everything looks legit.

Always be skeptical of too-good-to-be-true deals.

If something is way cheaper than it usually is,

or they’re offering you free deals,

then you might be getting scammed.

Be suspicious of anything that’s sent to you for free.

If you’re shopping from a smaller retailer

that you found on social media,

do some independent research

and make sure that that site is legitimate.

That means looking at online reviews

that aren’t on the website themselves.

Be on the lookout for any signs

that a store is trying to trick you with

pressure tactics like fake going-out-of-business sales

or other things that are gonna add urgency

to your purchasing experience.

Ignore delivery text links.

You should always be tracking your packages

using lookup tools on the carriers you trust.

If you’re donating to charity, always do your research.

Make sure the organization is transparent about

how they spend their money,

and that they give you a way to contact them.

If they’re using pressure tactics to donate immediately,

that’s a huge red flag.

You can also use third party websites like Charity Navigator

that will tell you the legitimacy of an organization

and whether you should donate to them.

If you’re unsure about any retailer,

you can always look them up

on the Better Business Bureau website,

which will check complaints about those businesses.

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Online shopping scams aren’t new,

but they’re getting smarter, faster, and harder to spot.

So always take a breath before you click Buy,

and make sure everything checks out.

This has been Incognito Mode, stay safe out there.

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