Shopping in online stores is popular because they lack most additional fees and many online stores send goods without adding extra charges, as is often the case in regular stores. Therefore, the demand for goods in online stores is quite high, and as always, any successful business attracts scammers. They do not bypass online stores, creating fake sites and deceiving users.
Online Store Fraud
Scammers use the brands of well-known online stores, they:
- can clone the site;
- make a slight change to the images;
- change one letter in the name.
Slight changes are not immediately noticeable, and the user may not realize they are on a fake site.
Scammers offer goods they do not actually own and may demand full payment for the goods, after which, naturally, they do not send anything and do not return the money.
Fake Online Stores
Fake online stores are known for attracting users with low prices on goods, deliberately making them lower than on other sites. If the price is significantly reduced, it's a scam. Sometimes the price reduction is explained by a new promotion or clearance of goods, offering a large discount. Before agreeing to such an offer, it is recommended to visit different sites and study their offers with identical goods. Scammers pass off poor-quality products as branded goods, for example, instead of European products, they may send fakes, the same applies to counterfeit branded clothing.
Fraud in Online Shopping
Fraud in online purchases includes:
- full or partial prepayment when placing an order;
- insurance against the goods not being redeemed;
- requiring money transfer to a regular bank card or electronic wallet;
- the only option for delivering the purchased goods is mail or a transport company;
- forging the shipping receipt;
- providing the buyer with fake parcel numbers, after which they may disappear with the money.
Most online stores offer buyers different options for shipping and paying for goods, if there are several such options, then claims of fraud are unlikely to arise.
How to Recognize Scammers in E-commerce
E-commerce is electronic commerce that allows combining platforms and various services where online payments are made. E-commerce is most often used in online stores, thus simplifying the purchase process. Using this system, the buyer does not necessarily have to go to the store, just:
- visit the website;
- browse the products;
- place an order.
Scammers use this service, they order goods, and then may demand a refund, claiming the goods do not suit them or fit. In this case, the scheme is that the scammer wishes to keep the goods but also get the money back. If the seller returned the money before receiving the goods back, he is unlikely to get the goods and will be left without money.
Fake Reviews in Online Stores
Creating fake online store sites, scammers do not intend to use them for long. Therefore, they fill it in hastily with various deceptive information, the same applies to reviews about the products and site operation, these reviews lack specific explanations from someone who used the purchased goods, everything is vague and more resembles advertising than a fair assessment of the product.
Counterfeit Goods Online
Using product images from other sites on the internet, scammers pass them off as their own, thus misleading the buyer and demanding payment in advance. After receiving payment, scammers do not intend to send the goods because they do not actually have these goods. They steal images from real online stores.
Online Shopping Scams
When purchasing goods in an online store, pay attention to the photos:
- they should be of high quality;
- clear, so you can see all the details of the product;
- there should be several photos, if the photo is only from one angle, it's likely a fake taken from the internet;
- have a blurry or pixelated structure, it is recommended to check for the presence of this photo on the internet, if the search engine finds a similar photo on other sites, it's a fraudulent ad.
Scammers often insist on immediate purchase of the goods, urging the buyer, enticing them with the fact that only a few hours remain until the end of the sale, the last item is left, or the right size in a single option, and so on. Therefore, it is proposed to urgently pay for the goods, so as not to miss it. This is a fraudulent online shopping scam.
Online Store Scams
For their scams, fraudsters create stores on fake sites, there are several signs that can help recognize sites created by scammers for temporary use:
- the site consists of a single page;
- navigation is impossible;
- template design;
- little information available;
- absence of product images;
- blurry product descriptions or copied from other stores;
- lack of various payment methods.