Costco Scams Customers Should Know About Before Shopping

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Costco's a popular place to shop, especially among those looking to save money. Unfortunately, that means that scammers love to target Costco, whose business model is designed to please both customers and employees. It's the company's aim to please that makes a lot of scams seem so believable. In fact, the problem is so widespread that the company has a page on its website of known scams -- and it's a long list. Costco is doing its part by warning customers not to fall for online scams . The scams tend to fall into certain categories, with giveaways, prizes, and surveys being among the most common.

Everyone loves free stuff, and winning raffles and other low-stakes contests is just fun. Who doesn't want to be a winner? It shouldn't be a surprise, then, that one of the top ways that con artists try to scam shoppers is by creating fake giveaways and prizes that just happen to require some personal information if you want to claim your prize. If you see anything about Costco offering a giveaway that you can enter, and if you're not sure whether it's a scam, call Costco directly to ask.

Always be suspicious of emails that claim to be from Costco that address you as "Dear Customer" and that offer huge gifts for seemingly little in return. One scam Costco cites claims to give customers a free 4K HDTV just for paying their credit card bills on time. Ignore these offers because all you'll get in return is a ransacked credit card.

No, the seafood department at Costco isn't really trying to be your friend on Facebook, and no, that sponsored ad for heavy construction equipment on sale at a huge discount is not legitimate, either. You've got to keep in mind that mantra: "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." It applies to nearly everything you see online. If you've got a tight budget and get an offer for one of these sweetheart deals, don't fall for it out of desperation. Look for typos and beware of requests for personal information. Instead of responding, report the post or ad to the social media platform instead.