Local woman’s money stolen, credit compromised by “bathmat scam”

Just about everybody needs a bathmat and buys one from time to time.

Nobody knows this more than online scammers.

A Redings Mill resident was recent taken when she bought a “bathmat with a jazuzzi-like feel. She lost $30 on the mat but the damage done is more complicated than just the immediate loss of the money.

“The consumer still has to be one the lookout,” says Stephanie Garland of the Better Business Bureau.

“She has to be careful for the next couple of years to see if her personal accounts are used, if any loans are taken out in her name, if her credit has been compromised.”

Garland says what scammers really want is personal financial information. Once they have that information, they can make repeated unauthorized purchases.

She advises you to check out online companies in advance by going to bbb.org.