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Online Shopping Scams: Know the Signs

You could benefit from educating yourself on the most common online shopping threats

By Robert CordrayPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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Approximately 1.8 billion people worldwide shop online. As many as 63% of shopping journeys begin on the world wide web. Online shopping has become so commonplace that most consumers don’t think twice about entering their credit or debit card information into yet another form, but maybe they should. If you, like the majority of global consumers, prefer to have your goods delivered to your door instead of having to brave the masses at malls and markets, you would benefit from educating yourself on the most common online shopping threats — or, more specifically, how to spot a scam before you fall victim to it.

Unfortunately, online shopping scams are not always easy to spot. From fake trust seals to whole fake websites, thieves are getting clever by the minute with ways in which they deceive shoppers. If you want to know, what is a cyber attack, use the six signs below to help you spot the most common online shopping threats.

Lack of Contact Information

Even businesses that do not operate out of a physical location have some contact information. A phone number and email address are standard, though many online-only operations even have a headquarters listed on the site somewhere. If you’re shopping on a site that has absolutely zero contact information, navigate away. Even if the company turns out to be legit, think about what you will do if you want to return an item, make a complaint or receive a refund. The inability to resolve any issues should deter you if the thought of identity theft doesn’t.

Unnecessary Checkout Information

Legitimate checkout forms ask for the standard information: Name, address, email, telephone number. That’s about it. When a site starts asking about your household size, annual income and make and model of your vehicle, “for research purposes,” click away. An honest online retailer has no business probing into your personal life in such a way.

Unprotected Payment Methods

Before making a purchase online, make sure you can use well-known payment method at check out. Those include major credit and debit cards, the issuers of which have zero-liability policies, PayPal, Venmo and Apple Pay. Most other forms of payment, especially check or money order, should be clear signs of fraud and indicators that you need to take your business elsewhere.

Bad Site Reviews

One of the most surefire ways to detect an online shopping threat is to read the reviews. Sellers may lie, but customers don’t. If you’re suspect about a particular seller or company, perform a quick Google search on it. The results should turn up honest information about the business, including whether or not it’s a scam.

Fake Online Stores

It is not uncommon for cybercriminals to create fake websites that look nearly identical to the sites of well-known and reputable retailers. If you fall for this scam, one of two things will happen:

1. You will pay for a product that does not actually exist, meaning you lose your money but never receive anything in return; or

2. You will input all of your personal and financial data, which the owner of the faux site will steal and use to his or her advantage.

This is possibly the most difficult scam to spot, as, as already mentioned, many fake sites look almost identical to the real deal. Other variations of this scam include a site that claims to be an affiliate of a major, well-known brand and a made-up retail brands. Sadly, many consumers are unaware that they’ve been scammed until it’s too late.

Coupon Giveaways

Finally, scam artists like to take advantage of the frugal nature of today’s consumers. If you’ve sought out discount codes or coupons online, only to be taken to a survey that requests personal information in exchange for savings, you’ve encountered a scam. Legitimate coupons from reputable retailers do not come at a price.

Online shopping may be convenient, but it’s not always safe. Know the threats and signs before you begin your next virtual shopping adventure.

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