This might help to curb your shopping addiction: bedbugs are popping up in a growing number of stores, with most recently, in a Victoria’s Secret in Lenox Hill. A SoHo Hollister and an Abercrombie & Fitch at the South Street Seaport are just the tip of the iceberg. Local exterminators predict that the worst is yet to come, with a sporting goods store, a doctor’s office and a mattress warehouse already being affected.

After the bugs were found at the Victoria’s Secret, the store was immediately closed down. Bedbug-detecting dogs were brought in for a sniff, and then an intense chemical spray served to eradicate the problem. The company was quick to assuage our fears (and keep us shopping) with claims that this was an “isolated” incident. Nonetheless, Victoria’s Secret is pushing through with all of its stores checked for bugs.

Complaints to 311 about bedbugs are up 19%, with records showing 31,719 calls this year, reports AM New York. Residential calls will be dealt with, but because there is no city agency, businesses will be on their own. Because they are mainly a nuisance and don’t spread any disease, the city doesn’t consider bedbugs to be a public health risk, and a few bugs in a couple shops doesn’t equal an infestation. Needless to say, many New Yorkers are displeased.

Usually spotted in beds of questionable cleanliness, it is theorized that the critters are hopping from one infested source, like used furniture, to people’s clothes which spreads them to homes and public spaces. There’s no telling how far they’ve hitchhiked from.

Easily transmittable and hard to get rid of, bedbugs will leave nasty bite marks and a painful, itchy rash on skin. Steam cleaning and vacuuming are a good DIY cure, but full elimination comes with a potent, direct spray of pesticide right on the individual bug. Once sitting at a manageable population, the Environmental Protection Agency claimed bedbug incidents have tripled since 2005. There has been a boom in bedbugs, with the United States not the only country fighting a war against the annoying pests. A global survey was conducted in pest control companies in 43 different countries, and similar spikes in bedbug calls were noted.

Be sure to check your own home for bedbugs, as they can be easily carried to the workplace or any other location you visit. Usually in dark cracks and crevices, some of their hiding spots include the bed frame, the box spring, and between the headboard. Between wooden floorboards and buried in carpeting are also some of their favorites.

If you notice a sudden rash on your skin or see actual bites, the bedbugs have already dropped in for a visit. Keep an eye out for tiny bloodstains on your bedsheets. These are caused by bugs that have been squished while you slept. They may also leave dark spots on your bedding or walls, which is their excrement, and where there's excrement, there's a foul odor. Do not hesitate to call an exterminator if bedbugs have made themselves comfortable in your home.