SOURCE: Federal Trade Commission

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 in their physical stores. But that hasn’t stopped scammers from setting up bogus websites with fraudulent deals claiming to give you 80-90% off. Here’s how to avoid these JOANN online impersonators.

People report seeing ads for an online JOANN’s bankruptcy sale while browsing sites like Facebook, Pinterest, or Nextdoor. But JOANN isn’t selling online anymore — their own website says so. So 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. If you decide to buy, you’ll pay and get an emailed receipt.

But soon, according to reports, you’ll find out the receipt not from JOANN. Your bank or credit card statement will show you’ve 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. 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 you need to.

Share this alert with friends and family, and if you see a scam like this, report it to the FTC.