Consumer Protection

How to Spot a Fake Prom Dress Website Before You Get Scammed Prom season comes with enough stress—finding the right dress, coordinating with friends, staying within budget. The last thing anyone needs is to lose money to a scam site that looks legitimate at first glance. The Better Business Bureau recently issued an alert for the Hudson Valley area warning shoppers about fake prom dress websites that steal both payment information and personal data. While the warning originated in New York, these scams are active nationwide, and they tend to spike as proms approach. ...

Nearly One in Three Americans Has Been Hit by an Online Shopping Scam — Here’s What to Watch For If you shop online — and most of us do — there’s a decent chance you’ve run into a scam without realizing it. According to a recent Pew Research Center study, about a third of Americans say they’ve had an online shopping scam happen to them. That’s a striking number, and it suggests that even cautious shoppers are getting caught off guard. ...

One in Three Americans Has Been Hit by an Online Shopping Scam: How to Protect Yourself If you’ve ever bought something online that never arrived, or clicked a link in an email that turned out to be a fake storefront, you’re not alone. According to a Pew Research Center survey published in November 2025, about a third of Americans say they’ve had an online shopping scam happen to them. That’s 33 percent of U.S. adults—a figure that should give any regular online shopper pause. ...

Fake Prom Dress Websites Are Everywhere — Here’s How to Avoid Them Prom season is here, and across the country, high school students and their families are searching for the perfect dress online. Unfortunately, scammers know this too. Every spring, a wave of fake e-commerce sites springs up, offering stunning gowns at suspiciously low prices. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has issued alerts about these fraudulent stores in multiple regions, including a recent warning for shoppers in the Hudson Valley area of New York. ...

Online shopping scams in 2026: What to watch for and how to protect yourself Buying things online has never been more convenient—or more risky. According to a January 2026 warning from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA News), scammers are using increasingly sophisticated tactics to trick shoppers. The FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report, released earlier this year, showed that online shopping scams accounted for over $350 million in losses nationally, with the average victim losing $1,200. And those numbers are likely underreported. ...

How to Spot and Avoid Online Shopping Scams: Advice from VA and Federal Agencies Online shopping offers convenience, but it also attracts scammers looking to steal your money or personal information. The Department of Veterans Affairs has published multiple alerts warning veterans and their families about common shopping scams and how to stay safe. This article draws on those official sources and similar guidance from the FDIC to give you practical, actionable steps. ...

Online Shopping Scams Are Getting Smarter – Here’s How to Stay Safe If you’ve shopped online in the past year, you’ve probably noticed deals that seem too good to be true. Some of them are. According to recent warnings from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Federal Trade Commission, online shopping scams are becoming more sophisticated and harder to spot. Veterans and military families are especially targeted, but anyone with a credit card can be caught off guard. ...

One in Three Americans Has Fallen for an Online Shopping Scam: Here’s How to Stay Safe A new survey from the Pew Research Center, published in November 2025, sheds light on a problem many of us have suspected: online shopping scams are widespread. Roughly one in three American adults say they have personally experienced an online shopping scam. That figure is not just a statistic—it reflects millions of real losses, ranging from a few dollars for a product that never arrived to significant financial damage from stolen payment information. ...

How to Avoid Fake Prom Dress Websites This Season Prom season is around the corner, and with it comes a familiar wave of online shopping scams. Every year, scammers set up fake websites that appear to sell prom dresses at steep discounts, only to take shoppers’ money and deliver nothing. Recent alerts from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) serve as a timely reminder that these scams are active right now. ...

Beware of Fake Prom Dress Websites: How to Spot an Online Scam Before You Buy Prom season is here, and along with the search for the perfect dress comes a familiar risk: online scammers setting up fake storefronts. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) recently issued an alert for shoppers in the Hudson Valley, warning that fraudulent websites posing as dress retailers are circulating. While the alert targeted a specific region, the tactics they describe are used nationwide. If you or your teen are shopping online for prom attire, it’s worth taking a few minutes to understand how these scams work and how to avoid them. ...