Bourbon has seen a large increase in popularity in the last ten years with bourbon sales reaching $5.1 billion in 2022.  The increase is reflective of the wide range of people, including women and younger people, in particular, turning to bourbon as a spirit of choice.  Along with the popularity of bourbon in general has been the demand for high end bourbons such as Pappy van Winkle.  Of course, scammers are always ready to meet the consumer demand for anything and so it is no surprise that scammers are selling counterfeit bourbon of popular brands such as Pappy van Winkle for attractive prices.  The scammers often purchase empty bottles of popular, expensive bourbons and fill them with cheap liquor which they sell online to unwary customers.  The scammers use social media such as Facebook and Instagram to market their phony products as well as a variety of online marketplaces such as eBay and fake retail websites.

TIPS

As with anything you find for sale online, if the price seems too good to be true, it most often is a scam and you should be wary.  A red flag indicating that an online bourbon seller is a scammer is that many of the phony websites offering to sell you upscale bourbons indicate that they ship anywhere in the United States without restrictions.  Not all states allow alcoholic beverages to be shipped to their state so any website that indicates that they ship everywhere is a scam.