RICHMOND, Ky. — The Derby Liquor store in Madison County is among businesses experiencing scams over social networks. 

What You Need To Know

  • A local liquor store and its customers were targets of a social media scam on Facebook

  • Derby Liquor was surprised to find a social media page uses its image and name with a large following

  • The store is working with the Kentucky Department of Alcohol Beverage Control to investigate the page

  • The Richmond Police Department advise social network users to check pages routinely and confirm online purchases directly with a business

Niki Padadia is a clerk with Derby Liquor in Richmond, connected to a packed gas station attached to the building. He says the store offers many different items for people who stop in.

However, Padadia says they are a local business catering to the area. “We don’t ship any products out of state. We don’t ship products anywhere else. Yes, we have DoorDash. you can get our products on DoorDash,” Padadia said. 

It’s why the liquor store was shocked to learn their storefront, identity and more were being used on a fake Facebook page over the holiday weekend as part of an apparent scam.

“We were surprised to find out that this page has almost 5,000 followers. So it’s kind of alarming,” he said about the page’s existence. 

Niki Padadia is a clerk at Derby Liquor, connecting with the community. (Spectrum News 1/Sabriel Metcalf)

Padadia says they were alerted by the Kentucky Department of Alcohol Beverage Control. “We reported it. It looks like they target not just us, but a whole bunch of liquor stores, but for some reason, our store has got traction and ABC has reported it. We have reported multiple times the page is still up, but we just advise you not to engage with the page at all,” Padadia said. 

The alcohol beverage control department is investigating the circumstances and working with the Richmond Police Department to inform and communicate with the community.  

The department used its Facebook to share info and a reminder to be vigilant and aware of possible scamming on social media. 

 

“Different types of scams that go on and at various times. And, you know, we just don’t want anybody in our community to fall victim to it,” Richmond Police Chief Rodney Richardson explained. “But we also want to get the word out because we have a lot of followers on social media, especially our Facebook page.”

Richardson says photos of specially priced high-end bourbon were on display, encouraging traffic to the page. He says, however, that while it can be a challenge to prevent such situations, an updated form of verification for businesses using social sites could be the solution. 

Padadia says they support their customers who were impacted.

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