# Facebook ads for scam products - I hates them, I does **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 4, 2021, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-ads-for-scam-products-i-hates-them-i-does/951860 "2021-10-04T11:39:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2021, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-ads-for-scam-products-i-hates-them-i-does/951860/41 "2021-10-06T13:30:47Z")
I can validate that Calamityware is a real company and a really awesome company. I’ve bought items from them and I was first alerted to their existence via a Facebook ad. However, my wife has on several occasions shown me FB ads where the price for something is redonkulously low and I have to throw cold water on her excitement of finding a real bargain. If it looks too good to be true, it’s probably a scam. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2021, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-ads-for-scam-products-i-hates-them-i-does/951860/42 "2021-10-06T14:09:48Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > And sometimes it’s actually a legitimate company, one you’ve actually heard about before, and might actually buy something from. Sure. I see ads for legitimate things like Ford trucks and Hickory Farms. But if i wanted more info on an F150, I sure wouldn’t click on the ad, I’d go to [Ford.com](http://Ford.com) or whatever their home page is. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2021, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-ads-for-scam-products-i-hates-them-i-does/951860/43 "2021-10-06T17:01:43Z")
> [@Daithi\_Lacha](#): > > If it looks too good to be true, it’s probably a scam. Not Facebook-specific - but scammers seem to know what items are really in demand and quickly set up websites to “sell” those things. Last year we decided we wanted a tumbling composter - as, apparently, millions of others did. The legit sites were either sold out, or charging insane prices. I found two websites that sold the thing for a reasonable price - but it took about 45 seconds on the first to twig my scam-o-meter. The second site was identical, down the the oddball assortment of unrelated crap. Some investigation showed the sites were very, very new and highly suspicious. I actually bought the tumbler through an eBay listing - at roughly “list” price (pre-COVID, it had been going for about 60% of list) - and I actually received the thing, and my credit card info was not compromised. IIRC, the scam sites offered it for about 45% of list price. My husband, sadly, WAS taken in by a scam site selling N95 masks; he ordered 3 of them for the household. Then we started reading about the website being under investigation; I filed a chargeback with the credit card and nothing else happened. My in-laws actually ordered toilet paper online - from some company I’d never heard of before. Tiddly Tots, I think. I was convinced they had been scammed. I mean, I was CERTAIN of it. Googling the website with one spelling turned up a kids’ clothing storefront, with another spelling got a site selling miscellany but no toilet paper. I found the TP listing when I looked at a cached page. They kept getting “shipment delayed” messages (the box was coming from China) and I was predicting it would never arrive. Meanwhile, I ordered them some from WalMart (dunno why they had not tried the more reputable sites) - which took a week or so but did actually arrive. Weirdly, that site actually panned out. I think it took 2 months, and MIL said the rolls were kind of small - though she did say they felt nice, LOL. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2021, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-ads-for-scam-products-i-hates-them-i-does/951860/44 "2021-10-06T17:03:13Z")
Funny how several of us stumbled across that same scam ad! If your friend ever found a real website for the gadget, I’d love to see it for real. I suspect it’s way too spendy, but it did look kind of fun! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2021, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-ads-for-scam-products-i-hates-them-i-does/951860/45 "2021-10-06T19:27:13Z")
Yesterday I posted a WaPo link to an article about all this. Today, there’s a follow-up article: > **[How to tell real products from scams when shopping online](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/10/06/online-shopping-how-to/)** > > It’s hard to tell what’s quality or a scam online. Use these research skills to avoid getting duped. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-ads-for-scam-products-i-hates-them-i-does/951860.md?page=2)