Chicago BBB exposes prom dress scam: Prom-goers left paying double

CHICAGO - The way teens do proms can be expensive nowadays between the promposal, send-off and the outfits.

And now, some prom-goers are being forced to pay double for a dress — all because they were scammed.

It might look good on social media with filters and even AI. However, some of the dresses seen are being made just for photographs.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Chicago discovered that promsstyle.com wasn't delivering what they were selling.

One local woman ordered dresses from the site, but when they arrived, the fabric was so sheer it was see-through.

The company is based in China and doesn't appear online anymore. They could have gone out of business or renamed themselves.

Sheila Humphrey, the owner of Delorne Bridal in Flossmoor, said this year she is seeing an increase in teens being duped by the glam online.

"On social media, there's a thing called an inspirational gown. And an inspirational gown is something that actually was created just to make a photo. And, a lot of these girls see these gowns. They're beautiful, and they want that look for prom. In order to get that look, you gotta go to a custom designer," said Humphrey.

"If you're usually an organization that's offshore, because there's no protection for you like you do have in the U.S., and again, these are scammers and some are bad businesses who don't care," said Steve Bernas, BBB President and CEO.

The best advice for prom-goers is to visit a store in person or vet an online store, making sure they don't have bad reviews or a bad rating on BBB.org.

Also, if you are buying online, make sure to use a credit card so you can dispute a charge if you are scammed.