A Warning: retail scams seem to be picking up

The Brooklyn Bridge. Which was “sold” numerous times by George C. Parker. No word on whether or not he threw in 76 trombones just to sweeten the deal. Or maybe a pool table. A POOL table? In our community? (Photo: Suiseiseki)

In the last 72 hours I’ve gotten two style tips about popular shoes (Allen Edmonds Factory 2nds as well as Bean Boots and Katahdin Iron Work boots) being advertised at absurdly low prices. Like, $40. Both fellas, to their credit, said “there’s no way this is true, right?”

It’s not.

Last week I sold a wristwatch on eBay. Immediately after the auction ended I got a message through eBay from someone acting like they had bought the watch (they had not, different user name), requesting that it be sent to a different address because they had “just moved”.

Don’t laugh. Don’t think “nah, couldn’t happen to me.” All it takes is a few seconds of not paying attention. And a lot of us have a lot fewer seconds allocated to paying attention right now.

In times of stress, scams pick up. With more and more flashbulbs popping off in our heads because more and more is going on, we just don’t have the wattage to filter like we used to. Scammers know this. And they pick up their pace to try and make their dirty hay while their personal sun shines.

A lot of this stuff seems to be happening on Facebook. So if you spend any time there, be careful.

That’s all. Carry on.