Beware – Online L.L. Bean Scam

Just as the old saying goes, "if it's too good to be true, it probably is"  and that is exactly the case for a online ad making it's rounds on Facebook. This one just came up on my Facebook feed:

When you click on the ad it brings you to a slick website that looks a lot like LLBean.  Sadly it is not. The web address "https://www.llbeanonlinestore.shop/" is not associated in anyway with LL Bean. Doing a search at ICANN on the web address known as domain search comes back as a site just registered a few days ago to a domain fronting company to make the owner to appear private.

Digging a little deeper reveals the site has ties to southeast Asia. The only domain that is official for LL Bean is www.llbean.com. In a press release LL Bean said

"While our retail locations remain closed, we are grateful to those who have continued to order with us, and we are continuing to fulfill orders made on llbean.com or by phone at 1-800-441-5713. Rest assured: our teams working across operations, including our home agent service representatives, are continuing to follow strict CDC guidelines, including practicing safe working distances and adhering to additional cleaning protocols."

According to the Federal Trade Commission, "Crooks use clever schemes to defraud millions of people every year. They often combine new technology with old tricks to get people to send money or give out personal information."

The F.T.C. suggests you "Do online searches. Type a company or product name into your favorite search engine with words like “review,” “complaint” or “scam.” Or search for a phrase that describes your situation, like “IRS call.” You can even search for phone numbers to see if other people have reported them as scams."

The Federal Trade Commission encourages anyone that believes they have been scammed or notices something that resembles a scam to contact them here: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/