Online Shoppers Beware
Scam Warning - E-Commerce
Posted: Thursday June 20, 2019E-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