If you’re one of the millions of users shopping online these days, you’re likely to find some great deals as the festive season approaches.Unfortunately, the holiday season is also a great time for scammers! Unsuspecting shoppers who are eager to snap up Christmas bargains jump online and can’t resist offers that are too good to be true.To avoid falling prey to online shopping scams, Here are a few things you can look out for this season
Watch out for…
Too good to be true offers
If you see deals that are too good to be true, then they probably are. Scammers entice shoppers with unbelievably discounted offers to defraud them in various ways, like:
- Get buyers to divulge their private and/or financial details by selling them non-existent goods.
- Selling a product that never arrives.
- Trying to make a profit by adding on an extremely high shipping rate.
- Selling an item that isn’t the one you’ve ordered, have you return it at your own cost, then keep the initial fee you paid for the shipping cost.
Upfront payments or fees
Watch out for unsolicited email or social network messages saying that you’ve received a gift/prize/parcel that needs to be delivered, but then asks you to first pay for an administrative fee or extra postage before it can be delivered. Don’t pay upfront fees for unsolicited items.
Protect yourself
- Buy from well-known, reputable stores or sellers
Some scammers set up highly elaborate genuine looking websites or pages. Don’t be fooled by good looks, do your research — read online reviews, ask around in forums, and if you’re buying high priced items it might be a good idea to check a seller’s business credentials in their country of origin. - Use buyer or payment protection
No payment method is impervious to fraud. But some methods are safer than others.
Credit cards are a good means of payment when shopping online, because banks keep a close eye out for fraudulent activity and charges. Most banks have a zero liability policy on their credit cards that protects cardholders against credit card-related theft and fraud. So If you are unfortunate enough to have been scammed, you can alert the card issuer to dispute the charge and get it reversed quickly.
If you don’t have a credit card then try use a third party payment method if possible. For example, Paypal offers a buyer protection feature which in most cases means that if something does go wrong you can recover some of your money. - Pay securely
Check to see if the site is secured — look for web addresses starting with ‘https’. This ensures your payment information being sent in the transaction is encrypted and can’t be intercepted and stolen. - Install an antivirus solution and keep software up-to-date
Keep your operating system and software on your devices up-to-date. This can help prevent malicious software and hackers from exploiting vulnerabilities in your system and causing havoc.
You should consider installing an antivirus or internet security solution If you don’t already have one installed. ESET offers award-winning antivirus and internet security:
- Windows users can try out ESET Smart Security
- Mac users can download ESET Cyber Security Pro
- If you own an Android phone you can download our free ESET Mobile Security & Antivirus
Lastly, If you’ve been affected by cybercrime fraud you can report it to:
- ACORN – Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network
https://report.acorn.gov.au - Scamwatch
https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam
Happy holidays and safe shopping.