Better Business Bureau warns of online baby formula scams

May 20, 20222

BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota is warning new parents to watch for scams as a result of shortages in the supply of baby formula.

“The buyer contacts the seller via chat or direct message showing photos of baby formula cans available — the buyer then makes a payment through a peer-to-peer platform such as PayPal or Venmo and then you wait for the product to arrive, but it never does,” said the BBB’s Bao Vang.

Vang said to watch for signs of potential online scams, including positive reviews on the website that have been created by scammers, along with misspellings, grammatical errors, or other descriptive language that is inconsistent with the product.

Another sign is the lack of a brick-and-mortar address, or an address that shows a Google map image as a parking lot residence or unrelated business than what’s listed on the website.