Regular readers might be growing tired of these scam alert posts, but I feel compelled to share them as new trends and patterns pop up.
A new scam store popped up with just 2 product listings – one for a Dewalt cordless power tool combo kit, and one for a YETI cooler. Maybe they figure that they’re targeting similar audiences?
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A quick search turned up more scam listings for YETI coolers.
If you look at YETI products on Amazon and elsewhere, their hard coolers are all somewhat pricey, in the several-hundred dollar range. The wheeled Tundra Haul cooler shown above typically retails for $400.
New scam store listings are advertising it for just $89 with free shipping.
The scam store makes a convincing appearance too, except for the “drums” heading. Fitness products, outdoor sports, coolers, and… drums?
Still, at first glance it looks like your average online store.
This particular store has a USA address – no doubt fake or taken from a real store somewhere, and generic “about us” and FAQ pages. There are no social media accounts.
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When you enter the domain, e.g. scamstore.com into a WHOIS lookup (https://lookup.icann.org/), it says:
Created: 2021-08-14 08:21:11 UTC
In other words, this store has all the signs of a fly-by-night scam operation. Do NOT give them your money, personal shipping details, or any attention.
The only way to protect yourself against these scam stores is to be aware of the signs, patterns, and red flags.
The adage “if it sounds too good to be true, it probable is” definitely applies here. Many scam stores use different psychological tricks to persuade consumers to make rushed and emotional purchases, such as with countdown timers and notices of limited stock to create a false sense of urgency.
Now, there is an increasing and alarming trend of scam stores that look real, especially so on mobile devices.
Here are some red flags:
- Very new or recent web domain (via registry lookup)
- Unbelievably low price
- No social media accounts
- No phone number to call
- “About” and info pages sound are badly written
- Odd product category pairings
Of course, there’s no proof yet that this “store” is a scam, but how many newly created online stores are really offering 75% discounts on YETI coolers, drums, and fitness equipment?
You have to be extremely diligent. I found one “store” that has all but one of the red flags, as it was registered two years ago and even has some online reviews at 3rd party websites. They have the YETI cooler even cheaper, for $89. But, just because its domain has some age to it, that doesn’t mean it’s not a scam.
I’m sorry, but you’re not getting a YETI cooler for 78% off.
Chris I
It’s 2021 at this point. The world and knowledge is at our fingertips 24/7. We as humans can no longer excuse nor babysit ignorance and apathy. I thought the internet was supposed to make us all super-geniuses?
A fool and his money shall soon part, AFAIC.
Stuart
As mentioned in the post, new trends and patterns are popping up. And, despite internet shopping having been around for a while now, not everyone is as savvy as you assume them to be.
Nobody deserves to be scammed.
The fact of the matter is that scams continue because people are being tricked by them. Tactics are becoming more sophisticated, and so greater awareness and vigilance are needed.
Chris I
This is not a “trick”. These coolers are $400+.If you’re buying it for $89 with free shipping, you’re the idiot.
I’ve worked financial crimes for 15+ years now and I don’t feel sorry for any victim any longer. You say tactics are becoming more sophisticated, I disagree just based on my professional experience. You know how many people still lose money to lottery scams? And those have been around for what, 25yrs? Or the famous “the IRS called me and they need me to pay them in gift cards”.
I mean, jeez we’ve gotten dumber and more gullible in the Age of Information.
Stuart
I hold advanced degrees in the hard sciences and like to think I’m a smart person, and yet I don’t have perfect judgement 100% of the time. I still make mistakes.
My goal is to spread awareness in hopes it helps save some people falling for these scams. The scam “stores” are absolutely more convincing than they used to be. Some people will be tricked by these “stores” no matter what anyone says, but I can at least try to inform and spread awareness.
My father taught me early on about bait and switch tactics and grey market goods, but he never had to tell me not to buy expensive electronics from strangers in a parking lot.
Realistically, how many people do you think have ever looked up a website’s registry records before?
I get a LOT of scam emails and messages, and sometimes it’s not clear what they’re after. My gut instinct tells me they’re scams, and it can be a challenge working out the “how and why.”
Linda King
Thank you! A lot of the scams target the elderly. They are so convincing and the lead in doesn’t mention $$$ at first. They gain your trust first. We know a couple in their 90’s that got totally ripped off!!
John
Wife got scammed getting me a cooler. Why did she let her guard down? It was a Facebook AD and she paid using PayPal.
She trusted facebook ads to be legit businesses.
C4ligrl
Like John’s wife – I trusted the facebook ad and paid with paypal. Now trying to get my money back,,,
John
I’ve bought plenty of items for 75%+ off that weren’t scams. I just bought a dewalt heated jacket kit, new in the box, for 30% of its original price. The only thing that makes this a scam is the fact that the store is not genuine or reputable. It takes a pretty keen eye to notice the telltale signs of a freshly created store if you aren’t looking for them.
Nicole
Or people are becoming more and more desperate to scam other people out of money. Yes there are naive people in the world willing to hand out money and trust everyone, which is a huge problem, but they don’t need you calling them idiots. That’s not fixing the issue. Building awareness of these scams is what will help the issue.
Paul Silverstein
My Yeti prize was ?19.73 When I asked customer service to pay by check they refused and referred to terms and conditions. When I read the terms I discovered I would automatically be charged $56.95 monthly for additional surveys. While there are promotional events this is a total SCAM
Dum dum
Im pretty sure i got scammed🤦🏽♀️
I ordered two for $180 my visa’s been charged but I haven’t received anything
I can’t find anything any confirmation that they sent me
Dianne Wade
Me too I only ordered one
Is there any way we can get our money back⁉️
Stuart
Contact your payment company (PayPal or credit card bank).
Melanie
PayPal wouldn’t honor their guarantee. I am out almost $100
Stuart
Persist at it. I’ve heard successful stories where PayPal has been siding with customers.
Patrick
I got a refund from PayPal. Had to talk to a representative however. There online resolution site douse not work. Good luck!
Jess B
I just got an offer allegedly from Dicks Sporting Goods that if I completed a brief survey that I would receive a Yeti backpack cooler for free. I only had to pay the shipping cost. However, when I got to the shipping and billing page, they do not list the shipping cost before you place your order. That’s a major red flag, and I advise caution to anyone receiving a similar offer.
Stuart
That sounds like email spam. Never click on offers like that in your email, they’re often phishing scams.
Sarah
Shit i gave my venmo mc # for 5.96 am i screwed ? What should. I do ? Omg
Stuart
Contact your bank and change your number?
Hon Cho
The real scam is that Google indexes and presents these scam stores alongside legitimate sellers in search results. Is it because the scammers are highly skilled in search optimization or is Google being scammed too?
Anyway, I think they’re pretty easy to spot and while I’d rather not have them around, buyers not cautious enough with their personal and financial information shouldn’t expect a happy outcome from their careless adventures in looking for an unrealistic deal.
Stuart
Google and Facebook apparently don’t vet pricing or the legitimacy of the stores for paid ads.
As far as search results go, they game the system. Google started ranking speed and “freshness”.
Don Julio
Does Facebook even vet for shoplifting fronts?
Alanna
It would be better of them if they were to flag scam sites rather than putting so much effort into shielding us from “miss-information”. Oh, but wait! Follow the money. They get paid while we get ripped off! (and are treated like mushrooms).
Stuart
Most scam sites are only a few days old. By the time reports come in to prompt Google or Facebook to investigate any complaints about a scam store, new scam stores have already taken their place.
C Neva
I don’t think Facebook, Google or PayPal care that the public is getting scammed. They still make money on the ads from these fake companies. As someone also noted, by the time they are investigated, they’ve already started another 100 fake companies.
John
This is aggravating.
Facebook also profits off the scam. They should be liable.
MFC
Aw, come on Stu. These are obviously “wholesalers” that just figured out how to “take out the middleman” so that “you can save big”.
It’s always funny when a retailer says they’ve taken out the middleman.
Like, wait, what?
Stuart
Money can greatly influence almost everyone’s behaviors and actions. When we’re talking about the potential to save hundreds of dollars on a purchase, most people know it cannot be true, but the hope and eagerness for it to be true can be convincing.
MFC
Yes, even one of my very analytical and cynical friends was asking me about an obvious scam store.
They will always think of new ways to get us.
Bruce
To be fair, I probably wouldn’t pay more than $89 for a YETI cooler. 🙂
W00dy
Me 2! But paying 89 dollars for noyhing sounds even worse.. I think it’s great that Stuart tries to warn people.
Charles
because you’ve never owned one. They really are that good. I have 2. I don’t regret the money on either.
Ice cold drinks at the end of a hot day on a construction site is amazing
Farmerguy
I have looked at those knowing what I was seeing but had curiosity. one site had these $300 coolers for $79, but then had a notice that sale transaction limited to $99. I think I read elsewhere that $99 number restricts actions of credit card companies or criminal investigations or the like. Funny for a store to limit total purchases.
Bob
Was referred to a Red Wing Boot site this weekend. 70% off just about everything on the site. A little investigation revealed a recent domain birth, with a foreign ( guess where?) contact information.
Steve
So it’s the official YETI site then.
Stuart
No, it looks like it’s pretending to be.
Steve
It was a joke. Because buying a YETI is already a scam.
Julian Tracy
Be careful on ladders. Don’t put your hand on a hot stove, do not close knives with your fingers in the way…. Don’t think you’re getting an entire store’s worth of name brand current goods for 85% discount.
Mister Mike
Thanks for continuing with your scam website warnings, Stuart. I confess to falling for one of these fake websites a few weeks ago that offered super discounts on a shoe brand I like. It was the third top hit on a Google search, so it seemed legit.
It was very sophisticated with all the shoe style images and sizes as a typical brand outlet, and more importantly the prices seemed comparable to other discounters. So I placed an order, but that’s when it stopped working like a typical webstore. The purchase order system did not behave like a proper website, but shunted me to a weird internet bank popup to enter my credit card. Then my card number would not go through, probably because it was not a US business but instead a hidden foreign company. At this point I realized it was a bogus deal and I tried to cancel the order, but of course that didn’t work either. So I immediately called my credit card center to dispute the charge and report the suspicious activity.
The next day the bogus charge was removed, but my card number was compromised so I had to wait a week to get a new credit card. The fake shoe website also disappeared from the internet and Google too. These scammers are very clever and not so easy to recognize anymore, so thanks for giving your readers a heads-up on them.
MM
“It was the third top hit on a Google search, so it seemed legit.”
There is NO expectation of legitimacy to Google search hits. There is no vetting. Their terms of service clearly state this. Search engines are like casting a net into the water…you never know what you might get, and it’s up to you to determine if Google dredged up an edible fish or something else entirely.
Rob
Yeti is sold through types of retailers that go through seasonal inventory of very high margin items. They sell to a consumer that is used to seeing 70% or more discounts on clearance items. So unlike the power tools that have low margins and SKUS that remain on shelves for decades; the Yeti scam may succeed at duping a larger number of victims.
RednGreen Chile
Want a real scam.
Shopping folding camping chairs at REI yesterday, guess how much Yeti wants for a folding chair….
$300! ha
Yeti is the scam
carry on
Cary
I live in a beach town. Everyone has a Costa, salt life and a yeti sticker in the window. It’s just a status symbol
Ruslan C.
Facebook is the super spreader for all these scam stores and no one cares about it. Yesterday saw a “store” selling green egg grills for $89 🙂 just a Shipping will be more than a posted price. Human green and absence of critical thinking makes crooks to prosper.
MM
Problems like this could be successfully fought if Facebook users stopped using the platform until Facebook took stronger steps to crack down on scammers. If significant percentages of their users threaten to quit the service over the proliferation of scams you bet that will get management’s attention. But that will never happen, the human desire for gossip seems to be strong enough to override all logic. We have seen that time and time again with Facebook’s various data and privacy scandals, yet users just can’t stop their addiction to the platform. Facebook knows they don’t have to police ads any better, there’s no incentive for them to.
RayRay
Interesting point about Facebook – it reminds me about the ongoing problem with cocaine, heroin and other hard drugs which have been heavily dilluded with baking soda or other contaminants. This too could be successfully fought if users simply stopped using those drugs until the Columbians took stronger steps to crack down on the mob and street dealers who are cutting the product and peddling contaminated junk.
/s
Charles
If it’s too good to be true, it isn’t true.
Stupid people just can’t seem to get that through their heads….
Suzanne
Thanks for posting about the websites and scams. I have been reading everyone’s responses and what I find interesting about this is that instead of seeing the good in the content, some want to make themselves feel better by pointing out everyone else’s failures. No-one is perfect and mistakes can be made…from all of us. If you believe that your are impervious to making a mistake then shame on you. Maybe it’s not by a scam, but WE ALL make mistakes. So if I someone tries to help by sending out a message to educate people so they don’t make THIS mistake, then we should all be thanking him and not ridiculing him or those who accidentally bought into an idea of getting a good product at a price they normally couldn’t afford . Believe me, I am sure people feel stupid enough once the realize what has happened or as you said “like an idiot” on their own, they don’t need anyone else to point that out to them. None of us are perfect!! Thanks Stan
Julie
The Yeti “scam” site uses the trademark Yeti on the domain name and mentions that it is an outlet. There’s no reason a seasoned shopper would think this is a scam. It’s a shame some commenters have lost sympathy for the victim. Let’s have more compassion.
Naz
Thanks for posting. Just got took. Wish I would have read this before I bought. Ordered, got email confirmation that the cooler shipped and delivered on same day with usps tracking info. Called usps they said the tracking number included a different address, not mine. Didnt give me the address they had tho. Still trying to follow… BEWARE.
Ang
I got taken by this one also. What can I do to protect myself from what might happen now?
Janice
Dispute any and all fraudulent charges with your credit card company! The faster you call them the faster they can shut down your card. They have special teams that work Fraud claims.
Sarah
Im afraid i did too gave them a nominal fee and nothing came is an absolute disgrace and horrid.
Sarah
Thank u idk how it was though venmo only 5.96 and i figured i f d up they even tried to add more luckily venmo had less than 11 dollars. Im worried if we have a better deposit these clowns will empty us out. Th ank u so much.
Heather
This one got me as well. I usually do a review check before I buy from a website but I honestly thought it was Yeti. I did the review immediately AFTER purchasing and realized so I contacted PayPal immediately. I am usually VERY careful when buying online but I am not well versed in Yeti products and the website looks like Yeti.
Doug
ordered the yeti through PayPal, it never came. opened a claim and waited. PayPal sent me a tracking number, that was invalid, said the items were delivered and closed the case. As PayPal won’t let you dispute a closed claim, I had to call the. After a long list of questions I got to speak to a live person. They contacted the shipper and found out that the item was delivered to my city to no address, and not to a real name.
My refund is on the way. If you have a problem and used PayPal, call, the claim/dispute part of their website sucks.
Sandra
Thank y’all. I was getting ready to order 3 of these coolers. Decided to look for scam alerts!
Donna Reeves
I was scammed the ad had a Green Security lock I mean it was legit. Wrong The 2nd time this has happened to me no more be careful they’re good
M
I was recently scammed with one of these “flash sales” via FaceBook. Fortunately, I paid through PayPal, which helped me avoid the financial loss. In working with PayPal, they told me that this is aa hot trend recently (today is 04/15/2022), and that are getting lots of these calls. Ugh.
Rob
Yeti coolers are junk anyway. I bought one directly from their store and it didn’t last 6 months. The lid caved in and the seal fell out. It only keeps ice solid half as long as a cooler from Walmart. Don’t waste your time.