I Got Scammed!

No matter how much care you do, you can still fall for a scam! A week ago, I saw an ad on Instagram for a 360' bookshelf. It looked really nice and it said we could fit in 300 books. We really need a bookshelf so after careful review I ordered. The order system looked exactly like others I've filled out. It also promptly asked for the bank confirmation. I happily went to sleep imagining how I would store our books in it. 

The next day I felt something wasn't right. I normally list items I bought online in my planner to track my expenses and to monitor delivery. I remembered that I did not provide my email address when I made the payment for the bookshelf. It felt strange because they did not ask for any contact details except my address. So I never got a confirmation via email that I made an order. Good thing I took a screenshot of the bookshelf and the receipt so I was able to take note of the shop name. 

Since I saw the ad on IG, I searched for the shop. IG said it only had a FB page. Found the FB page and got the link to the website. The name of the shop does not show any search results on Google. You can only see it if you go to it's website without typing www. Went directly to the website and checked the contact details of the shop. It showed a US phone number and a Wuhan address. I immediately filled out the contact us page to follow up on my order. I was still hopeful at that point. 

In response to my follow-up, I received an email to create a zendesk account. I figured that it was their help desk system. I was eventually redirected to a forum page and saw many other customer complaints. I re-submitted my follow-up and waited for a response. It's been almost 5 days and I never got a response, so I told Sweetie about it. He reviewed the page and confirmed my fears. 

I immediately reported the page to FB (since that's how you advertise on IG and you have to report by flagging the page). Then I reported it to my bank. The bank immediately blocked my card and will investigate. I also sent a screenshot of the customer complaints to the bank. Hopefully they are able to confirm that the shop is fraudulent and I get my money back. Getting my card blocked is a small inconvenience for now. At least I know they cannot abuse my card. I hope the other customers would report the company so all credit card companies would block them. I hope FB would also invalidate them from making ads. 

I guess from now on I'll have to research about the company first before purchasing. I rarely purchase things from ads. I think it's probably just the second time I did. I rarely get budoled by ads. I've also been very wary about purchasing from the FB marketplace. So far I've only bought citronella plants through the FB marketplace. I only did after reading through the page of the seller. A friend though got scammed yesterday when he was trying to buy luncheon meat. What a scary world we live in. 

I still need the bookshelf. There are other sources, but they're so expensive. I could just have my Mom's carpenter make it for me when he's back from vacation. It would be a nice project for him. I just need to figure out where I could get the item that could make the shelf rotate.

#BeKind #StayHome