Blackstonediscount.com Scam: Fake Labor Day Discount Sale!
Have you come across blackstonediscount.com Labor day sales online? Beware! Blackstonediscount.com is a scam website selling griddles, ovens, burners, etc. for very cheap prices, but when customers make a purchase the store does not deliver the items. Below are reasons why you should avoid Blackstonediscount.com at all costs.
Reasons Why You Should Avoid Blackstonediscount.com Labor Day Sales
It’s Impersonating Blackstone Brand
Blackstonediscount.com is pretending to be a Blackstone online outlet, whereas it is not. On the contact us page, the store mentions ‘Fadel Beatty Limited‘ as its parent company, but this company is a China based company known for bait and switch scams.
Poor Customer Support
Blackstonediscount.com has not provided a working email with which they can be reached. Mails sent to the email address ‘[email protected]’ have not been responded to even when marked ‘Urgent’.
Fake Customer Reviews
The reviews on the website have been stolen from the original Blackstone website ‘Blackstoneproducts.com’. They’re dated as far back as 2022, whereas Blackstonediscount.com only started existing few days ago.
It’s a Recently Registered Website
According to who.is (a domain checker tool) the website Blackstonediscount.com’ was registered on 23rd August 2023. This means it has been open for barely few days. So the store has no reputation and could easily shut down any time.
Are You Safe If You Use PayPal To Make Purchase From Blackstonediscount.com?
You’re not totally safe. These days, using PayPal does not guarantee a quick refund. Fraudulent stores like this one, exploit a major issue with PayPal’s system. You purchase the item, a few days later they find a tracking number that has shipped to your area (completely unrelated to you or your item) and then they post this tracking number into your PayPal transaction. PayPal sees this as a complete transaction and almost impossible to dispute.
3 Things You Should Do If You’ve Already Shopped From Blackstonediscount.com
The first thing you should do is; contact your bank or financial institution to cancel the transaction. If you do this quickly, you can get a chargeback immediately. However, in the case of completed transaction, you should file a dispute claim.
The second step you should take is updating your passwords. You should do this, if you used the same password on other websites or apps. You should also go an extra step of enabling two-factor authentication.
Thirdly, beware of any fraudulent email from this store. Do not click on any suspicious link in the email, as it could be a phishing email. Clicking on the link might install malware on your phone which could compromise your device’s security.
Conclusion:
Blackstonediscount.com is a scam website pretending to sell Blackstone grills, griddles and oven for 90% Labor Day discount. However, it’s all just a bait to make people shop from them. In reality, the website is not affiliated with the Blackstone company but rather owned by scammers whose aim is to steal from buyers.
Easy Steps To Protect Yourself From Online Shopping Scam This 2023
According to FTC, online shopping fraud is the most reported fraud category of 2023. Below are steps to take in order to stay safe and avoid this kind of scam;
Check the Domain age – How old is the website? (You can do so by visiting who.is)
Website Security Check – Look out for the SSL encryption security symbol. (https and padlock symbols).
Find Out Its Physical Location – Does The website provide return address? If Yes (Copy the address and paste on your browser. Google map would show if it is a real warehouse address or a residential address)
Check For Reviews – Are there customer reviews online? It’s better to patronize stores that has reviews available online.
Find Out If It Has Social Media Presence – Do the social media icons work? (A lot of fraudulent websites provide social media buttons but they don’t work.
Beware of the returns and refund policy before purchasing – If the policy isn’t available or if it isn’t favorable to customers, you should quit shopping.
Use secure methods of payment that protect the buyer – payments portals like PayPal make it easy to get your money back.
