We have been trying to keep you informed and aware of fake tool store scams, where customers are lured in by impossibly low prices.
There is a new trend where the scammers will impersonate popular tool brands, such as Ryobi, Dewalt, and now Milwaukee Tool.
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Readers have been reporting fake stores to us, and I’ve been relaying URLs to tool brands who have legal teams in place to take action. There might not be a lot that they can do to take down all of the fake and scam storefronts, but they can certainly take down impersonators that use trademarked branding in their URLs.
Read More About Recent Tool Scams
Milwaukee says that they have seen an increase in the number of scam sites posing as the official Milwaukee Tool website or as a distributor, and that they are actively working hard to out a stop to these sites.
One thing to keep in mind is that Milwaukee Tool does not sell direct to consumers. Refer to their list of authorized dealers to find a distributor near you.
Milwaukee Tool has set up a new Fraudulent Site Reporting Page, where you can provide additional information should you come across a suspicious storefront.
They also provide advice should you or someone you know be scammed by a fake tool store:
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If a purchase has been made from a fake website, we recommend the following actions:
1. Inform your financial institution as soon as possible, they can help prevent further charges
2. Report the questionable website to Milwaukee Tool using the following link so we can investigate it further: https://www.milwaukeetool.com/support/fraudulent-site
They ask How Did You Find This [Suspected Scam] Website? with the following options to select:
- Facebook Ad
- Instagram Ad
- Google Search
- Google Sponsored Ad
This matches the discovery methods that we have been hearing about.
As for how to recognize scam stores, here are some tips: Scam or Not? Tips for Assessing Unfamiliar Online Tool Stores.
Jared
Interesting that Milwaukee considered this a significant-enough problem that it merited their involvement.
Facebook obviously has me figured out as a tool fan, because I see scam tool ads a LOT. What bothers me is how often it appears in groups I’m a member of and I can see people sharing it with their friends. Because of their high visibility, I expect these scams are working.
Stuart
These scam stores could hurt their reputation, but also definitely hurts customers.
And, they might have started to get angry emails from shoppers who think they were scammed by Milwaukee Tool directly.
I mentioned this before, but someone fell for a scam on Facebook and yelled at me because they thought it had something to do with ToolGuyd. I have nothing to do with Facebook ads at all.
I think that one of the reasons these scams are working is because users can’t see the website URL on mobile. So to many people, everything looks right, except for the unbelievably low price, and they just cannot pass it up. The thought doesn’t cross their mind that Google Shopping or Facebook would send them to a fake/scam storefront.
Jared
Good point. I’ve seen people post in your comments asking for products, support or how to return a tool to you – so I suppose similar things must happen to Milwaukee even more often if they are mistaken as the seller.
The way Facebook embeds ads is probably part of the issue too – some look just like a post or “for sale” listing and people can interact and share them just as they would any other post. Facebook probably does that to increase the sense that an add is something a user should read because it’s a part of their stream – but the byproduct is a false sense of reliability and connection to that user.
Christopher
Yes, on mobile it looks like it is Milwaukee. They got me for $100. It all looked proper, name in the address bar, till you get a “You sent a payment to……….”, some random name. They sent a tracking # within a minute, PayPal released the funds. I tried to file a claim, they said I had to wait. The tracking was with UPS, and then showed “Delivered” the next day, on a Sunday morning. PayPal wouldn’t do anything about it either. It sucks, and I’d say they got many people.
Emilee
I had to file a claim for the same scam. My husband used the mobile site and it sent him to a $99 promo sale. He never received a confirmation email from the company. 1 week later it said was delivered and signed for. I spoke with FedEx and the tracking number was assigned to a different name for the same location. I’m hoping PayPal will reverse the funds.
Chris S
The Google ads are the worst in my opinion. Depending on what you search, they can take up the first handful of hyperlinks and most people click on them. I scold family members any time I see them not skip the ad’s. Even the shopping tab is littered with scams, redirects, and often times a totally different product all together.
On my personal devices I use uBlockorigin extension in chrome and that eliminates the ad feeds. Only whitelist trusted sites.
MM
I’m seconding that recommendation for uBlock Origin. That is a very worthwhile plugin.
Aaron SD
On FB you can report these scams directly as well and I’ve done that a few times. Since then I haven’tseen too many show up on my feed.
JasonM
I didn’t think anybody actually clicked on this garbage.
Until last week when my FIL was so proud of himself that he thought he got a Milwaukee set that was $299 at HD for only $96 on a fake web store.
He did get a tracking number and got an empty envelope for his $96.
If it sounds too good to be true…yep
Rob
I noticed that Milwaukee gets hit the worst with these websites and then it clicked with me. At least in my local area, Milwaukee is king with people who don’t mind buying stolen goods. As you may know, the people who do the thieving get “want lists” from from their fence and Milwaukee is often at the top of the list. I wonder if the scammers are banking on victims believing there is some sort of pricing error that they may be able to take advantage of before it’s corrected? Same mentality.
Brendan
Stuart,
Thanks for your continued reporting on this. My wife just sent me over a link to a too good to be true site- [redacted] I used the look-up tool you linked to and saw it was created yesterday.
I’ve reported it to Milwaukee.
Stuart
Thank you!
Unfortunately, these scams will continue as long as people continue to fall for them. All we can really do is spread the word to warn others and take a moment to report the scam sites when we come across them.