Rockford Scam Artists Would Like To Ruin Your Prime Day Shopping

So, you're kicking out $119 a year on an Amazon Prime membership, and you'd like to save a bunch of money on different things as Amazon wheels and deals over the next couple of days with their annual Prime Day, going on today and tomorrow.

Fair enough. However, it's not just Amazon's reported 150 million Prime members who'll be looking for an easy score over the next 48 hours. Walmart, Target, and Kohls (to name a few) will also be rolling out discounts aplenty to try to grab their share of the money being thrown around by enthusiastic shoppers. It's a target-rich (pardon the pun) environment for not only the shopping public, but the scammers out there, too.

It's important to note that while scam artists continue to do their thing around the country, they haven't left Rockford and the Rockford area off of their radar. They're working scams to take money and personal information out of your pocket as much in our local areas as they are coast-to-coast.

Our friend Dennis Horton, director of the Rockford Regional Office of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) told the WROK Morning Show that "more deals mean more chances for scammers to capitalize on the buzz and trick shoppers. Be wary of phishing scams, misleading advertisements, and lookalike websites."

Dennis explained that the "phishing" scams come in a variety of different ways. One way might be someone calling you about a free gift that come with one of your purchases. They'll tell you that they just need some account information from you to send along your "bonus." What they're really doing is getting at your personal and payment information.

You may also be told, via phone call, text, or email that your account needs to be verified in order for you to take advantage of Prime Day offerings. Often they'll send you a link to click on and follow. Don't click on links from unknown sources, instead go directly to your account to check your status. If someone purporting to be from Amazon calls about a problem with your account, it's a ruse meant to get your credit card information, account login details, or remote access to your computer.

Remember, these scams are happening all over the nation, and that includes Rockford and the Rockford area. Click here for more online shopping safety tips from the Rockford BBB.