Stay Alert – Avoid Fake Sales of JOANN Impersonators

You may have heard the news: JOANN Fabric & Craft stores are closing — and holding big clearance sales before they shut their doors. Looking to grab some deals? The real JOANN sales are only happening in person at their physical stores. They are not selling online anymore. But that hasn't stopped scammers from setting up bogus websites with fraudulent deals claiming to give you 80-90% off.

People report seeing ads for an online JOANN's bankruptcy sale while browsing sites including Facebook, Pinterest, and Nextdoor. If you click on the ad for a (fake) online JOANN sale, you'll go to the (fake) JOANN's website and see (fake) super-cheap deals.

People who decided to make a purchase were emailed a receipt. But the receipts weren't from the real JOANN. They paid scammers instead, and in most cases, never got the merchandise ordered.

The FTC offers this advice to protect yourself from these types of scams:

• 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. But slow down and make sure you're 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 search result scam. 
  
  
• Pay by credit card, if possible. Credit cards offer more protections than debit cards. Always keep records so you can dispute charges if needed.  

Share this alert with the crafters in your life!