Don’t get tricked from this marijuana scam this 420! Many people still don’t have marijuana legalized where they live and are desperate to get it as people deal with mental health conditions, chronic pain, and illnesses across the country. Some people have even gone online to see if they could possibly get it delivered right to their doorstep, not realizing that it’s illegal in most states to do so. In the map below from Disa, you will see which states sell weed recreationally, which states sell it medically, which states decriminalize marijuana, and which states still outlaw marijuana. Scammers know how desperate people are to get their hands on some cannabis where it is illegal, and have set up fake stores selling pot online to trick their victims.

How the Buying Pot Online Scam Works

You go onto a cannabis online shop and look at the different strains of weed to figure out what you want to purchase. You finally find the one that’s right for you and follow the directions to message the seller about it. They tell you that for $130-$500 they will ship you 8 oz. of your desired weed strain right to your door. You think that you can finally get some marijuana in your state that outlawed it, so you send a money order over to the seller of the amount they requested.

They then ask for an extra $80 for “insurance” and demand that you pay them the extra money. Once you do that, they continue to stall actually delivering the weed, making up excuses as to why the delivery keeps getting pushed back. If you try threatening to reverse your money order, they will turn the threat on you stating that they will contact the police for breaking the law. Once you reverse the money order, a scammer calls you on the phone pretending to be a police officer, scaring you into thinking that you’re going to be arrested.

How to Avoid Pot Online Purchase Scams

• Don’t purchase pot online from websites you haven’t heard of. Purchasing marijuana on reliable websites like Weedmaps is ok. However, it’s actually against the law in a lot of states to purchase marijuana online and have it delivered to your house. If there are websites you’ve never heard of that claim they can do such a thing, chances are they are already breaking the law so they will continue to disobey the law when they steal your money.
• Don’t give anyone your personal information. They can use this information to commit identity fraud, which can be used to apply for credit cards and go onto your financial institution under your name.
• Don’t make online purchases using money orders, wire transfers, or other unusual methods of payment. In this day and age, we are used to making secure checkouts on a purchase page that requires entering debit card information. If a seller is making you purchase an item in an unusual way that you don’t trust, don’t make the purchase.
• Only purchase cannabis in states where it is legal at well-known dispensaries. Businesses that legally sell weed and have a good reputation are the only places that you should trust when it comes to buying marijuana.

Social Catfish is Here to Help You!

At Social Catfish, we want to help you verify the identities of those who might seem suspicious to you. If you have their name, email address, phone number, social media username, or image, you can reverse search and see who the suspected person was that you’ve been in contact with if you made the mistake of buying pot online.

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