In the USA, there has been a recent upsurge in the number of scams in the mascot industry. A majority of these are related to scams/frauds that are done online. We would like to bring this to your attention that these are brought to fruition in the garb of providing, selling or renting out the mascots. Meanwhile, there are innumerable people who fall prey to such fraudsters and their mala fide intentions. Through this important article, we would like to disseminate some indispensable information you must consider before renting or buying mascots online. This will ensure that you do not get lured by the fake offers these scammers claim to provide.
Besides that, we will also share some few Facebook groups that constitute a complete list of these dubious online platforms you need to be wary of while looking for mascot rentals. You can also share this information with your near and dear ones. It will eventually facilitate making a greater number of people aware about these types of scams prevalent in the society. So let’s try to elucidate how you can recognize that you’ve landed in a completely wrong place to buy mascots which can prove extremely detrimental for you. There are also some invaluable tips that definitely ensure you can easily get rid of these mascot scammers who are always biding their time to phishing their targets.
Understand What You Need To Consider While Purchasing/Renting Mascots Costumes Online
Lately and quite frequently, we are hearing about people paying for costumes and not receiving them. As a result, they are losing their hard earned money and falling victims to online scams in the mascot industry. So how can you be proactive to such a situation and ultimately circumvent it meticulously! Well, after perusing this article, you will have all the answers at your disposal. We all quite well know that there are innumerable number of places and occasions that may require using the mascots. For instance, schools, businesses and sports teams are always in need of them.
Most of these prefer or opt for buying mascots through the internet because it seems to be more convenient. There is a wide range of available options to choose from and the job can be done almost effortlessly. That’s where the scammers get an opportunity to make their move. That is to say, they have already set up their online portals or websites for their target audience. Therefore, what you need to do to get rid of such scammers is to be absolutely vigilant. Keep the points mentioned below always in mind while purchasing or renting mascots online.
Ask For The Company’s Portfolio
An inquiring clientele can ask for the portfolio meant to provide information regarding the range of products available. Every authentic mascot company will have an established portfolio for their customers. You can carefully deliberate after having a good look at their products and services.
Check The Past Testimonials
This is something that you should never overlook! After all, a company’s website is the most valuable source for deciphering its legitimacy. So always check and verify this by reading the past as well as current reviews available on the website. However, it’s a rarity to discover a company with no negative reviews, but it’s very much possible to ascertain its genuineness.
See If The Company Has Some Kind Of Customer Loyalty Program
It must be noted that not all businesses have a customer loyalty program. But this can lend you a brief idea about the company’s present and past customers. Besides that, there will be an available mailing list that disseminates news, coupons or other important emails. When you find it over the website, it’s wise to sign up for it. However, if not, then you must think otherwise! Remember, a trusted or a reliable mascot provider will have a long history of customer loyalty.
Some Additional Tips That Can Help You Choose An Authorized Mascot Dealer
- Using smart and verified applications.
- Browsing securely particularly through authorized websites.
- Using secure internet connections.
- Being vigilant while using your card.
- Keep your computer and mobile security updated.
What Kind/Type Of Scams Are They Doing In The Mascot Industry?
Scammers’ modus operandi can be divided into a variety of tricks and techniques they use. We will try to encapsulate some of the most common and predominant ones.
1. Advance Fee Fraud
Scammers most of the time request you to pay in advance along with your personal information in return for goods. However, they never supply or deliver the goods you buy or rent with them.
- They indeed try to convince or entice people with reasons that seem to be genuine. For instance, asking for cover fees and taxes.
- Scammers often ask for making the payment through international wire transfer. These scams can also be mass marketed by just creating a fake website for drawing customers in.
2. Online Shopping, Classified Advertisements And Groups On Social Media Platforms
- Scammers target victims by offering online services and through classified advertisements. Hence, not getting what you are exactly paying for is a very common hoax by mascot scammers.
- They may probably pretend to sell a product just to gather your credit card information or any bank account details. These types of ads are even found on some reputable online classified pages.
- Apart from that, they may sell you a product by enticing you to make the purchase at a considerably low price.
- Scammers are also quite active and operate some groups created deliberately to hunt for the customers (victims) looking for such products.
Recognizing Such Scams
If it’s a platform trying to dupe customers into providing mascot services, these are the points that can prove their fakeness.
- You will suspect you’re dealing with a fake company when there is no postal address.
- They will immediately ask you or may even pester you to transfer the money.
- You may be asked to make the payment in an unusual way. For example, by iTunes vouchers or transfer services like MoneyGram or Western Union.
- You are being asked to provide personal information like passwords, Social Security Number or PINs.
- There is no written confirmation about what has been agreed upon.
Warning Signs
Shoddy Websites having poor quality content or sloppy English are characteristics of fake sites. Real retailers have a superior online presentation as they manage their websites with great care.
- A website having a very limited or suspicious contact form. That is to say, there’s only a fill-in contact form and the customer service email is a Yahoo, Gmail account. A genuine retailer will have their corporate email id.
- Websites having URLs with irrelevant words and characters (most of the websites just use their brand name in their web address). See if there are any unusual domains like bargain, app or any foreign domain instead of .com or.net.
- Sites that ask customers to download a software and ask them to fill personal information for accessing coupons or discount codes.
- Mascot sellers that demand a payment by wire transfer, gift card or a money order. They are definitely scammers.
Protecting Yourself
- Always go for trusted sites rather than choosing to shop with any search engine. Scammers also game search results to lead you further astray.
- You can research an unfamiliar brand or a product. In fact, you can search for its name using terms like “scam” or “complaint” and see if there are some reviews.
- Check if the mentioned phone numbers or addresses on these store sites are genuine.
- Carefully read about delivery options, exchange, refund and privacy policies. If they seem to be vague or obscure, you should avoid buying from such websites.
- Verify the URLs and app names. Fake websites have misplaced or some transposed letters and are easy to miss.
- Opt to pay by using credit cards. That’s because they have a certain liability for fraudulent charges. In fact, some of the providers also offer purchase protection up to 100%. On the other hand, debit cards do not have such benefits when you use them for purchases.
- Never assume that a site is safe if you discover that it’s encrypted. Perhaps even the scam sites use encryption which indicates a padlock icon or https:// at the start of the URL. This is indeed done by them to provide a false sense of security for the users so they can dupe them easily.
- Never provide any extra information than the retailers require. To put it another way, just give them your billing address and shipping information.
- Verify if the website is well established, that’s what Norton, security software maker recommends. Besides that, look if there is a copyright date and see when the domain was created.
Facebook groups that can help you identify any Mascot scammer who may try to dupe you.
https://facebook.com/groups/939871579459619/permalink/5659889534124443/?mibextid=Nif5oz
https://www.facebook.com/groups/botarga/permalink/3081226392022951/?mibextid=Nif5oz
https://www.facebook.com/groups/botarga/permalink/3078167098995547/?mibextid=Nif5oz
https://facebook.com/groups/botarga/permalink/3058736284271962/?mibextid=Nif5oz
The Bottom Line
We hope and believe that this little piece of invaluable information will do you a lot of good. The whole rationale behind bringing forth this article for you is to enlighten you about the hazards of online scams. Not to mention, we are witnessing a considerable number of fraud and scam cases related to mascot services across the country. So, as we are one of the leading mascot providers, this becomes our unavoidable responsibility to make people aware of this critical matter.
Mascot Starz of Cleveland is a top notch rental mascots provider offering you a variety of products and services. Each and every mascot character we deliver is meticulously designed by a team of expert artisans. Our products are lightweight and have superior durability as well as offer a super comfortable fit. In fact, these are of the highest quality and made with the finest materials which keep you cool. For more information, you can get in touch with us so that we can serve you better.
