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Sports apparel, memorabilia sites abound online, here's what to know
From Facebook to TikTok and every social media site in-between, beware unofficial sports gear sellers says the Better Business Bureau.
FOX 2 - Sports is ramping up for fall as football kicks off while the Tigers are in the thick of the playoff chase.
Why you should care:
Fans are always willing to shell out some big bucks - but online risks abound when sports purchases come from non-traditional sellers - or those who might appear official.
"People are scrolling on social media, or they just search because they want one of these cool items," said Nakia Mills of the Better Business Bureau. "They will place an order with a company that they think is legit, but they never get it or it's completely not what they signed up for."
Coming across what appears to be a good deal, can you make you feel like a winner.
"They want you to click, it’s usually the best offer," Mills said. "Usually it's a great price that appears too good to be true, because it is - remember that."
Impulse buying gets you to act without thinking, Mills said.
"The site might look like a company you have heard of, so we call them imposter websites," she said. "So we want to make sure we check, one is (the site) secure? (Does the address start with) https. Not only that, you want to look at the actual URL because it could be off by just one number or letter."
One way to protect yourself, is see if the company you are buying from has a refund policy.
"Most legitimate companies have something that is right in the footer or in the 'contact us' section," Mills said. "It’s usually somewhere, so if you are just scrambling and you don’t see an address even listed, or a phone number, I would say close the site, it's probably not a real website."
Another way is to resist the temptation to act now.
"You can search in the BBB Scam Tracker or even just on the internet in general," she said. "Just search the name and reviews or name and scam, see what comes up. We’ve seen cases where people stop in the middle and do the search and realize it’s a scam.
It’s not just sports apparel but memorabilia. The BBB says be careful with autographs.
"We have heard of the autopen and there is a difference there between 'I signed this ball by hand' and a machine signed a million of these in a factory," she said.
That also goes for game-worn jerseys.
"When we are talking about these items these could have been hundreds and thousands of dollars," she said. "Yes, think about the Lions last year and someone said I have a Jared Goff jersey. He wore it and signed it, and then you find out he never wore that, he never touched it. It’s a big difference."
The protection here can come from what to ask for.
"They have a certificate of authenticity and when you get the certificate it should say who the issuer is," Mills said. "Contact them and make sure it’s legitimate. You can ask the seller to see it before you make the purchase."
When it comes to sports betting - also be careful.
"Some sites aren’t even pretending to be a site," she said. "You just might search sports betting and maybe you don’t know or there are so many to choose from. You click on it and enter your information. You place a bet but when its time to cash out, suddenly you can’t get your money."
Mills says in one recent case someone thinking they hit big called customer service thinking there was a problem preventing them from cashing out - and that’s when the scam went to the next level.
"He was told that he had to show ID on screen with his face to get his money and that’s when he thought it sounded odd," she said.
Nakia Mills says all of these principles can apply to buying anything online. Scammers prey on us not looking over details.
A little extra attention can save us cash in the end.
The Source: Information from the Better Business Bureau contributed to this report.