Northwest Iowa — Northwest Iowans are warned to think before they click if they see a familiar celebrity like Oprah or Ellen on a pop-up ad, pitching products for skin care, losing weight or boosting memory.
Jim Hegarty, CEO of the Better Business Bureau, says many of those ads are scams and they’re rigged to rope you in.
The con artists who produce the pop-ups don’t really have the endorsement of the celebrity you see, he says, and more scams seem to appear as fast as they’re being shut down.
Whatever amount you may have lost on the worthless products, Hegarty says it’s important to let the authorities know, as well as the nearest office of the Better Business Bureau.
Hagerty says this type of scam is estimated to have bilked Americans out of $1.3 billion in the past ten years.
