Greg's Corner

Video game consoles are the new scam item

The hot new items this holiday season are the latest generation of video game consoles, the Playstation 5 and the Xbox Series X. The consoles were released last month and due to the pandemic and scalpers, the consoles have been in short supply. The demand has gotten so high that some scalpers have even been robbed when trying to sell an overpriced unit. While we can’t tell you how to get your hands on one of the new consoles, we can tell you how not to get scammed if you’re looking to buy one this holiday season.

The main way to prevent yourself from being scammed is sticking with known retailers, both online and brick and mortar. While you’re searching online for a console, you may start to see ads for websites advertising the new consoles from retailers you’ve never heard of. Before clicking on that ad, research the retailer. Do a web search of the retailer’s name with the word ‘scam’ and see what comes up. If you try to use one of these scam sites, you could potentially end up providing scammers with your credit or debit card information.

If you’re the type that has no reservations about dealing with scalpers, stick with sites like eBay that offer some kind of purchase protection. If you’re lucky enough to find one of the consoles on a classifieds site, make the exchange at your local police department. Also, inspect the box before buying as some scammers will put things like bricks and phone books in the box to make it seem heavy.

The best advice we can give you is to just keep periodically checking with known retailers. You may just get lucky with your perseverance. However, if for some reason you’re not able to get a console this holiday season, keep in mind that there really aren’t any must-have games for either console yet.