Love is in the air, and so are Valentine’s Day Scams

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - This year the National Retail Federation (NRF) predicted consumers will spend about 26 billion dollars on Valentine’s Day, which averages out to $192.80 per person.

According to an NRF survey, 35% of people plan to buy their Valentine’s Day gift online.

Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate love, so the last thing anyone would want to worry about is getting scammed.

The way you can avoid online flower scams is to research the seller, understand the delivery process, read reviews, and pay with a credit card.

“From there on out the scam can take a couple of different routes. Oftentimes the flowers are delivered, but they aren’t on time, they don’t look anything like the picture, the flowers are wilted, old, and really not anything you would gift to somebody, so it’s really disappointing,” said Jessie Schmidt, Vice President South Dakota Region, Better Business Bureau, INC.

When looking for a florist online look for a local phone number and address.

However, it is suggested to order ahead of time so you are guaranteed to get what you want because Valentine’s Day is the most popular holiday for giving flowers.

“Planning ahead is always great, that way you can make sure you get the choice of the best of products, you’re not left to settle for something you wouldn’t have chosen initially. Ordering early also gives us the opportunity if you have something special that we don’t have in stock, we have the chance to get that in for you, and have it be at its freshest,” said Paula Wimp, Owner of Flowers by LeRoy.

Besides flower scams, this holiday can also be associated with romance scams and fake jewelry sites.