Edgewater resident Joshua Phinney recently thought he was buying a lift kit and dual stabilizer for his truck on Facebook.
He paid the seller and waited for the merchandise to arrive. It never did.
Phinney was a victim of an online scam, investigators with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said.
The FBI Office in Jacksonville recently issued a warning to consumers alerting them that scammers are “in full swing” looking to steal holiday shoppers’ money and personal information.
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More scams, bigger losses expected
For the 2020 holiday season, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 17,000 complaints of non-delivery of goods. That scam alone cost U.S. consumers over $53 million, federal investigators said.
In its 2020 annual report, the FBI said that non-delivery of goods and non-payment for goods cost consumers a combined loss of more than $264 million.
And that figure is expected to grow this year.
The number of complaints and loss is expected to be even greater in 2021 because of reports of merchandise shortages and the ongoing pandemic, said FBI Jacksonville office spokeswoman Amanda Videll.
“We are seeing scammers already posting hard-to-find products online…