buyer beware

While 2020 has pretty much sucked for most human beings, it's probably been the best year ever for the family dog or cat.

We're just a few days away from Black Friday, and many people will do their holiday shopping this year online. I know it, you know it...and scam artists know it, too.

Thanks to spiking rates of COVID-19, along with the lockdowns and capacity limits, more people than ever before will do their Black Friday (and post Black Friday) shopping online--and scammers are ready.

The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled an unprecedented shift to online shopping for consumer goods of all kinds, including vehicles. It's also bringing out the scams.

Have you had the experience where you pay for something with cash, then you're told that due to a coin shortage they can't give you change back from your purchase?

There's been quite the uptick in reports of scam artists knocking on doors and trying to trick, or in some cases, force homeowners into a bad situation.

Online scams are proliferating at warp speed, it seems. From fake puppy sales to stimulus check and unemployment con-jobs, lots of folks are losing their money.

From scammers trying to take advantage of local storms, to cyber-thieves, and even fake fundraisers for the repair of the Cathedral of Notre Dame--there are things to be very wary of.

In just a couple of days, we've gone from checking which type of children's cough syrup we have in the cabinet to the chicken we have in the freezer.

Flooding in our area is causing all sorts of headaches, from people having to evacuate their homes to repairing/mitigating the water damage to avoiding scam artists.