As shopping scams and romance scams continue to be a scourge on the American consumer, this year’s Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. While couples will be looking forward to exchanging gifts and experiences, scammers too are busy prepping.

Recently we have been tracking a large amount of new Valentine’s Day shopping scams. We’ve detected a total of 77,661 malicious URLs, with the states of California and Virginia being most affected, with 36.9% and 26.2% of the share, respectively.

These fake stores purport to sell a range of romantic gifts, from flowers to cards, and chocolates to clothing. One thing’s for sure, if you shop with these scammers, you’ll be left empty-handed and out of pocket. The following are what we’ve found.

Valentine’s Day Scam Websites

Teachergive

Prank Panda / Justlikeit

Nans Tees

Fydude

Cveraot.com

CNTHIAAR

MyFaceBoxer

Red Flags

All six of the stores share the same six red flags:

1. The websites are very young.
2. Much of the content is duplicated, including product pictures and policy statements.
3. There are no contact phone numbers – just different email addresses.
4. There are no reviews.
5. There is no social media presence.
6. The websites’ owners are hiding their identity on WHOIS.

Shop Safe with Trend Micro ScamCheck 

• Always double-check reviews of shopping websites.
• Pay attention to the company’s age, and be suspicious of great-sounding discounts.
• Strange payment methods (such as only PayPal) are a red flag.
• NEVER use links or buttons from unknown sources! Use Trend Micro ScamCheck  to detect scams with ease: ScamCheck is an all-in-one browser extension and mobile app for detecting scams, phishing attacks, malware, and dangerous links — and it’s FREE!
  
  Trend Micro ScamCheck is a browser extension and mobile app for detecting scams, phishing attacks, malware, and dangerous links — and it’s FREE!

Check out this page for more information on ScamCheck. And as ever, if you’ve found this article an interesting and/or helpful read, please do SHARE it with friends and family to help keep the online community secure and protected. And don’t forget to leave a like and a comment. Happy Valentine’s Day, and happy shopping!