BBB warns people about Valentines Day scams

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Better Business Bureau (BBB) issued a warning about Valentine’s Day scams that could leave your wallet empty not just today, but throughout the year.

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That can be fake jewelry sites, it could be fake flower sites,” says Tom Stephens with the BBB.

The FBI says, in 2022 alone, over 19,000 victims reported losing more than 730 million dollars in romance scams.

In northeast Florida, 98 victims reported losing over 2.7 million dollars in romance scams.

Stephens says there are several different scams people should look out for including what’s called the wrong number scam.

“They are going to start to engage you in a conversation and then basically try to work into that conversation to send you to a website,” says Stephens.

Stephens just wants people to remain vigilant, not just on Valentine’s Day, but every day.

“Number one if the deal is too good to be true, it probably is. The second thing is if the only way they accept payment is through something like gift cards or wired money or something like that, that’s going to be a scam,” says Stephens.

Sean Ryan, an Assistant Special Agent for the FBI says these scams have always been around, but now technology is involved.

“Now it has really transferred to wires, gift cards, and now we are looking at crypto-currency as well,” says Ryan.

Ryan says these scammers are making a lot of money and have a certain formula they follow.

“They are using well-versed scripts that are tried and true and have worked on other victims, they are doing this as a full-time job,” says Ryan.

Ryan says anytime someone is scammed the FBI wants to hear about it.

He says if you feel you’ve been a victim of a scam, file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.Gov.

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