Online Shopping Scams: How to Keep Your Personal Information Safe

Shopping online saves our time and money. Sitting at our own home, we can buy anything from any part of the world. However, with the increasing number of online shopping, scams are also increasing in a shocking number. Scammers make fake websites that look similar to genuine websites like Amazon, Flipkart. Fraudsters choose this method because they can hide their identity and can target multiple victims at a single time.

How does an online shopping scam work?

One of the most common methods is a fake online store. Fraudsters create such websites that look real, which offer luxury items and high-demand products at a very low price. Once a customer orders a product and pays the money, they either get a fake product, an unusable product, or else they don’t get anything.

Another popular scam includes social media advertising and marketplace fraud. Scammers use social media platforms to advertise fake products and use stolen images. Victims pay the money, but the product never arrives and sellers disappear.

Phishing is one of the most common types of fraud. In this case, a scammer pretends to be a well-known retail brand, sends a fake email or message asking the victims to confirm, provide payment information, or log in to your account. These messages have links which, when clicked on, redirect you to a fake login page. The main purpose is to collect the user’s credit card information or other personal details.

Excess payment is another common trick. A scammer pretends to be a real buyer, and makes an order, but first sends through an excess payment and requests the seller to send back the surplus money. Once the seller processes their part of the transaction, he is left scammed with no money and unwanted losses. To protect yourself against the myriads of scams, be sure to check reviews, use secure means of payment, and question any suspiciously appealing offers.

How to detect an online shopping scam?

Unrealistic prices

One of the biggest signs of online shopping scams is a price that seems too good to be true. Scammers usually lure innocents by providing them a low price on high-demand products such as smartphones, designer clothes, and electronic items. While discounts and advertising products are common in e-commerce business, getting an absurdly low price directly indicates a fraudulent seller, who never intends you to send the product. Before purchasing any product, always compare the prices with authentic retailers.

Poor website design

A newly opened online store sets aside a budget for a good website design, quality images, nice product explanations, and straightforward navigation. Bluff sites, however, tend to be very cheap looking, containing grainy images, lots of text and writing mistakes, as well as missing information. Those are bad signs. If the site feels strange and the layout seems disorganized, you’d best avoid it altogether.

3. Lack of contact information

Trustworthy online stores provide plenty of methods to contact customer service, including a physical address, a phone number, and an email. Scam websites usually hide key details and might only list a basic contact form or a generic email. If you cannot find clear contact details or the given contact number doesn’t work, then it could be a strong sign of a fraudulent website.

4. No secure payment options

Legitimate online stores provide credit card, debit card, PayPal, and other internationally accepted payment options, while fraudulent sites often request payment via bank wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or any other equally dangerous method. Purchasing from sites that offer abnormal payment options or do not guarantee a secure checkout should be avoided.

5. Suspicious customer reviews

Checking customer reviews is a good way to verify the authenticity of a website. Scam websites either have no reviews or contain fake ones that sound too positive. Look for verified reviews on platforms like TrustPilot, Google Reviews or social media to ensure credibility of a website.

6. No return or refund policy

A legitimate online store will clearly outline the return and refund policies. If a website has vague refund policies or does not explain how returns are managed, it is highly likely that it is a scam. Ensure that you verify the refund policy before spending money.

How can you save yourself from such scams?

1. Verify Website authenticity

Before purchasing, verify the website’s genuineness. Check the domain name because scammers often use URLs that look similar to real websites. Make sure to check if the website has https encryption as genuine sites will have an SSL certificate for online transactions. You should also look up the company’s name on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) or TrustPilot or Google Reviews to check if there are positive or negative reviews posted.

2. Use secure payment methods

Always choose secured payment methods. Authorized payment methods are credit cards, PayPal, and other renamed digital wallets. These methods are broadly used, advanced forms of payment. Credit card providers, for example, offer fraud security, identity theft coverage, and many banks also cover security breaches. To protect their customers, PayPal has buyer protection policies in place. Moreover, stay away from payment methods that are not very secure such as bank transfers, gift cards, or cryptocurrencies as they are harder to track and are often non-refundable.

3. Beware of unrealistic discounts

If an offer looks too good, offering a big discount, then take a step back and think twice before purchasing it. Fraudsters use big discounts as a bait to attract customers into making sudden purchases. Before making any decision, compare the price on another well-known platform. If the price has a big price difference, then it could be a scam.

4. Look for proper contact information

Real online stores provide correct and multiple contact options, including a physical address, phone number, and customer service website or email. If a website only has a contact form or no contact details, then consider this as a warning sign. You can also verify the phone number or email given, to see if they respond professionally.

5. Enable two-factor authentication(2FA)

For external security, add two-factor authentication on your account, even if a scammer gets your login credentials, they won’t be able to log in to your account without a second verification step. This minimises the danger of your financial and personal information being stolen by a fraudster.

Report suspicious website

The moment you notice a website you think is fraudulent, ensure you save relevant materials such as screenshots, any transactions, and conversations before reporting it.

You can prevent a large number of naive individuals from being lured into the same scam simply by reporting these types of scams.

Written By – Duncan Paul Glasgow