MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) – With Americans preparing to celebrate the country’s 250th birthday, the Better Business Bureau is warning consumers about scams targeting wallets ahead of the Fourth of July.
Fake charities
A national campaign called “Give Fourth” aims to make July 4 the biggest single day of charitable giving in U.S. history. The BBB warns that scammers often copy the name of a real charity, changing just a word or two — especially those that help veterans or cancer patients.
Before donating, the BBB recommends checking the charity’s website for misspellings and looking it up on give.org to see if it meets BBB standards.
Counterfeit merchandise
Scammers are also designing counterfeit merchandise that appears to be limited-edition America 250 gear, but is not licensed by the official America 250 group. BBB of Eastern Carolina spokesperson Nicole Cordero said it is already seeing a rise in online shopping complaints about the products.
“One consumer filed a report to us that they were shopping online, they wanted an America 250 shirt, it claimed to be made in the USA and made of 100 percent cotton but when they actually got the item, the shirts were made in China,” Cordero said. ” They are very poor quality, they are itchy and printed poorly, and so that is not what the consumer was wanting,”…