"From The Ad to The Cart"

I found myself lightly scrolling through my Instagram feed one day when one of the advertisements caught my attention. The website had an odd name that resembled a particular brand, but I will disclose more concerning that in a bit. The deal seemed too good to pass up on or maybe too good to be true. A few clicks later I found myself on a website filled with the items in the advertised photo and so much more. I browsed through some of their clothing articles and made my selections.

After adding them to my cart I decided to do a little research on the website, just in case. I didn't seem to find anything much which, honestly speaking, didn't give me more confidence in them. None-the-less I was hopeful. I proceeded to checkout. After entering my debit card information I looked over my info and submitted the data. But something happened when I tried to continue. Unbeknownst to me, PayPal had been selected and they were requesting for me to sign in or set up a PayPal account. Before heading back to the card payment to change my selection to "Pay with Debit Card" I noticed an encouraging message from PayPal. Do I remember it word for word? Absolutely not. But the gist of it was that if I use PayPal I can shop and purchase with ease because of the protection they provide, or at least that is what I took away from it. After returning to the original payment page I gave my selected payment option a little more thought. In the end, I decided to pay through PayPal since I wasn't sure how legit the website was. I signed into my PayPal account and completed the purchase.

Excitement swelled within me as anticipation for the arrival of my new clothing set in. Finally, I was going to be able to enjoy some workout clothes at an amazing rate. I sat beaming thinking about this new blessing. It was almost unbelievable. I mean, "click this link and you will enjoy 20% off site-wide" didn't sound too shabby. Plus, I had received free shipping! The prices of those clothing articles were already astronomically cheap. Take an additional 20% off on top of that and it's almost like they were paying me to take those clothes. So what if the name of the website (fitbate.com) resembled a major brand of athletic watches and wear (fitbit.com). What did I care that it screamed like a scam ad: "We are bating you. This bate is 'fit' for you." Give it a shot I thought to myself. The site is currently down if you were wondering. Don't go there and if it somehow popped up again I implore you not to try to purchase anything.

Moments after completing my purchase I received a phone call from a faraway country like India. The gentleman graciously informed me that in order to expedite the shipping I would need to go into my Paypal and click that I had already received the items so that they could send them. He used fancier words, but that is what he meant. Long story short, I didn't do what he asked because if you do that you can't get your money back. It turned out I never received the items.

Something I've learned from this interesting experience was that it is best to pay with PayPal or a Credit Card. I am not encouraging anyone to get a Credit Card. If you already have a credit card in good standing and have the funds in your personal bank account to cover the purchase then it is a viable option to use your credit card and pay it off right away. These options are the only payment options that are more likely to give you your money back if you get scammed. NEVER pay using a Debit Card or Bank Account if you are not 1,000% sure that the site or product is legit and from a reputable source. Your bank or debit card company will likely tell you that there is nothing that they can do. If you do happen to end up in a situation where you have used a debit card, however, don't give up. First of all, never give all of the info that you have concerning a case in the first round. What do I mean? Don't tell the bank everything that the scammers did right away. Don't provide all of the screenshots (Yes, take screenshots for the record as proof). Only provide enough information (For example: emails, screenshots, conversations, etc.) to open the case and potentially get it closed. Why? Because in the event that you need to reopen the case or to dispute their decision if it is not in your favor, you must present new information. How can you present new information if you have already given them all that you have? The short answer is you can't.

Welp, let's finish up my fitbate.com story. So, several months later I received the credit in my PayPal account! Unfortunately, I had been thirsty in a desert and the clothes were merely a mirage. My attempts at drinking dirt proved futile. The moral of the story is don't drink dirt. Try to find legit water.