E-commerce Scams. With the rise in E-commerce trading comes the heightened risk of scammers. BE AWARE of the following:

HOW TO SPOT FAKE TRADER SCAMS

  • Check for errors in spelling of the website URL and company emails
  • Look for independent reviews of the business and their products
  • These are reviews not provided to you by the website itself
  • If the payment showing on your bank account has a suspicious name that is not the company name from which you ordered
  • After payment check for a confirmation email which should happen instantly with a receipt of your order
  • Once ordered if any correspondence to the company goes unanswered eg: your email to admin@businessname.com bounces back

 

HOW TO AVOID THE SCAM

  • Follow the above points to ensure the seller or business is reputable
  • Don’t freely give away your personal or financial information or data
  • Use secure payment systems such as PayPal
  • Independently Google the business, its location and its URL
  • Check the company’s social media accounts, to see if people have commented negatively about legitimacy of the business
  • Check if a brand’s social media photos or videos have no comments or comments have been filtered. Note: Facebook will say ‘Comments have been filtered’

 

WHAT TO DO IF YOU SUSPECT YOU HAVE BEEN SCAMMED

  • Contact the business via their provided email to see if there is a legitimate explanation
  • If they do not respond swiftly and accordingly, visit your bank or financial institution as soon as possible so they can reverse or dispute the payment
  • Report the scam to Scamwatch