THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2021 Page 19 BBB scam alert: Shipping tricks cost online shoppers T his holiday shopping season, the Better Business Bureau’s BBB Scam Tracker has received numerous reports about shipping tricks that scammers use to steal from online shoppers. The con artists are exploiting PayPal’s policies by delivering incorrect items and using stolen tracking numbers. How the scam works People are shopping online and are fi nding amazing deals – often brand-name goods at a signifi cant discount. Often the items are large, such as pieces of furniture or a vacuum cleaner. The website and the products look legitimate, so consumers are deciding to take a chance and make a purchase. The site directs them to pay through PayPal, which leads many to believe it’s safe. After checkout, a confirmation email arrives that contains a tracking number from UPS, FedEx or another shipping service. GRANTS | FROM Page 1 zations and partners are in receipt today of nearly $1 million.” Arrigo said the largest grant, for the Rte. 1A southbound ramp, is important as the city works on its Riverfront Master Plan. “The design and engineering work will refi ne a plan for us to reconstruct a new ramp and rotary that will off er direct, safe, and convenient access to the riverfront for everyone – pedestrians, cyclists and motorists,” said Arrigo. “This riverfront area has been severely underutilized for far too long, but the critical infrastructure work we will be able to do with the MassWorks grant and with the redevelopment of the G&J tow yard and the city’s acquisition of the boatyard in that neighborhood – our residents will soon have access to beautiful new public space on the riverfront.” Arrigo said the grant for the Food Hub, which has been running out of a Winthrop Avenue After a few weeks, the package arrives, but it’s not what was expected. For example, one shopper ordered a six-foot artifi cial Christmas tree, but “received a bottle brush Christmas tree no bigger than my hand.” Another shopper told BBB that they ordered “a pressured machine washer for $78...” and received “a yellow shirt that’s not worth $2.” In another common version of this scam, the package is delivered... but to the wrong address. When consumers try to correct the mistake, they are fi nding that the ecommerce site is either unresponsive or unhelpful. In some cases, the site doesn’t provide contact information; in others, no one responds to emails or calls. Some scam victims report fi ling claims with PayPal to get a refund. PayPal’s protection promise says customers can open a dispute if the package never arrives or if the item received is counterfeit or diff ers signifi cantly from what was ordered. However, not every claim was resolved to the buyer’s satisfaction. For example, one shopper reported the following experience after ordering a desk online and fi ling a dispute though PayPal: “I was contacted by PayPal and told they had found in favor of the seller. They had apparently received confi rmation of delivery of said desk to my house according to the tracking number… PayPal did not give me any option to discuss their decision, to argue why they found in favor of the seller. They just closed the case.” BBB contacted PayPal about the BBB Scam Tracker reports. After looking into the stolen tracking code issue, they replied: “We notifi ed various shipping carriers of this issue allowing tracking data to be stolen and we believe it has been closed. In addition, we made enhancements to our algorithms to identify and disable these fraudulent bad actors. Arrigo. “After launching Revere Works in conjunction with TND, our unemployment signifi cantly declined, and that really, truly proved that collaboration and reemployment programming really does work.” Polito said she was pleased Lt. Governor Karyn Polito building for a year, will provide the capacity to continue providing quality food to all Revere residents. The mayor said the grant for the Revere Works program through The Neighborhood Developers is another critical source of funding to help the community. “At one point during the pandemic, Revere had the second highest unemployment of any city in the state,” said to see the city take the building on Winthrop Avenue and turn it into a place where food distribution can take place and that the state grants would help to increase its level of service. “You’ll be able to tap into the creative energies of people who understand how to design food and make food and be involved in workforce development and entrepreneurship and small business development and incubating that talent that exists right here in this city,” said Polito. Polito also acknowledged the work Revere has done on the development front while it was also addressing the needs of its residents during the pandemic. She said the riverfront area will be a great project with the priIn fact, we are stopping a signifi - cant majority of these fraudulent sellers at fi rst transaction through our detection program and have refunded customers impacted by this fraud scheme even if they did not appeal our decision.” Protect yourself from a package delivery scam Before paying, know your rights and responsibilities. In everything from check cashing scams to cons involving new peer-to-peer payment systems, scammers often take advantage of what consumers don’t know when it comes to processing payments. Don’t make a purchase from a shady seller assuming the purchase will be protected no matter what. Before buying online, confi rm the site has real contact information. Make sure the seller has a working phone number and address on the website, so you can contact them in case of problems. vate development of housing along the G&J site, as well as improvements to the park and the city’s development of the boatyard. “It was an area not developed because it was hard to get to, so the MassWorks program … is allowing you a $750,000 award for predevelopment,” said Polito. “We’ve learned how to do our jobs better, too, because MassWorks is typically a construction award, so you had to be ready to construct, ready to build. But we were hearing from Don’t wait too long to fi le a dispute. Scammers know that PayPal and credit cards have time limits for disputes. They often try to delay the process long enough so that shoppers miss the window. If the price seems too good to be true, there’s probably something wrong. Be wary if the item is selling for significantly lower than what’s been advertised elsewhere. Review BBB online shopping tips. Many online purchase scams use similar tactics. See BBB.org/ ShoppingOnline for more advice. For more info Learn more about spotting and reporting PayPal fraud. For more resources on shipping fraud, see FedEx’s website and UPS’s online resource center. To learn more about scams, go to BBB.org/ ScamTips. If you’ve been targeted by this scam, help others avoid the same problem by reporting your experience at BBB.org/ScamTracker. a lot of communities that were not quite ready, so what do you do, you don’t want to get rejected and then start all over again in a year. “So we backed up our program a little bit and said why don’t we help you with that predevelopment so that you can continue to move forward and hire the professionals needed to get that part of it done through the design and the engineering and the permitting and then come back to us, and we’ll help you on the construction end.” Your Hometown News Delivered! EVERETT ADVOCATE MALDEN ADVOCATE REVERE ADVOCATE SAUGUS ADVOCATE One year subscription to The Advocate of your choice: $100 per paper in-town per year or $120 per paper out-of-town per year. Name_________________________________________ Address_______________________________________ City_______________ State_______ Zip ____________ CC# _______________________________ Exp. _____ Sec. code____ Advocate (City):___________________ Clip & Mail Coupon with Credit Card, Check or Money Order to: Advocate Newspapers Inc. PO Box 490407, Everett, MA 02149 Lt. Governor Karyn Polito and City Council President Anthony Zambuto
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