Madison Senior Center

As we know, scammers are always an issue. However, during this time scammers are even more on the prowl to take advantage of vulnerable people due to COVID-19.

Possibly one of the most helpful services during this time is people that help with errands, whether that be delivering your groceries, prescriptions, etc, and for as nice as this may sound, there are also people who take advantage of this opportuning. There are some scammers that are offering help with errands and taking your money without fulfilling the service.

In these times, it may be safer to ask a friend to run these errands or set up delivery with a company that you or a friend is familiar with. One tip that is helpful for many stores is ordering directly through the store by calling them or using their website. In this case, there is no middle-man that is responsible for completing any tasks except for the trusted store employees.

Another tip is to use well-known delivery services. For meals, companies such as HelloFresh, Blue Apron and Home Chef are all trusted companies. These businesses allow you to pick out meals and later send the ingredients directly to your door. Another business, Instacart, allows you to pick out groceries and have them delivered right to your door. For ready and quick meals, companies such as UberEats, Postmates and Grubhub are trustworthy and have an array of different local restaurants to choose from.

Remember to double check the company that you are buying through to make sure that it is not a scam. The businesses listed above are trustworthy, quick and delicious! Stay safe and remember to support local businesses!

If you stumble upon a scam, you can report it to the FTC by following this link: ftc.gov/complaint.