FDIC-Insured - Backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. GovernmentJOANN Impersonators and Fake Sales
You may have heard in the news: JOANN Fabric & Craft stores are closing and will be holding big clearance sales before they shut their doors. Visit a physical store in person to grab some good deals. The real JOANN sales are only happening at their physical location.
This has not stopped scammers from setting up fake websites with fraudulent deals claiming to give 80-90% off. People have reported seeing ads for online JOANN’s closing sale while browsing sites like Facebook, Pinterest, or Nextdoor. If you click on the ad for a (fake) online JOANN sale, you will go to the (fake) JOANN’s website and see (fake) super-cheap deals.
But JOANN is not selling online anymore — their own (real) website says so.
If you decide to buy (from the fake website), you will pay and get an emailed receipt. Soon after, you will find out the receipt is not from JOANN. Your bank or credit card statement will show you have paid someone other than JOANN, and you probably won’t be getting a package to go with that bill.
To Protect yourself from scams like this:
- Be wary of unusually good deals. Scammers often reel you in with supposed “limited-time” deals and crazy-low prices to convince you to buy quickly. Slow down and make sure you are dealing with the real thing.
- Confirm the sale is legit. Check with the store directly to see how they’re running their sale. In this case, the real sale is in-store only, so online “JOANN’s sales” are a scam. To check it out, go to the company’s website using a URL you know is real to avoid a scam.
- Pay by credit card, if possible. Credit cards offer more protections than debit cards. Always keep records so you can dispute charges if you need to.