With rice prices in Japan still at sky-high levels, some consumers have turned to websites offering discounts as a way to cut costs — only to end up getting scammed.

The Consumer Affairs Agency on Tuesday raised the alarm on the existence of fraudulent websites claiming to sell and deliver discounted rice, warning consumers that they could end up empty-handed.

In a typical case, a consumer who purchases rice from such a website ends up waiting for shipments that never arrive, and attempts to contact the company in charge of the delivery become an exercise in futility.