The trend of online shopping is rising rapidly, and we cannot see it declining in the future. Instead, the online market is expected to expand even more, as every day, new businesses are entering this spectrum.
From buying tangible goods to acquiring services, online shopping has eliminated the need for people to visit physical stores.
People from all around the globe are busy experiencing online shopping. However, it needs to be done cautiously, as it is quite prone to fraudulent activities. You might have heard about online shopping scams from people around you or experienced them yourself. It’s on the rise, with many scammers trying their luck to rob online buyers.
You can prevent yourself from becoming a victim of online shopping scams by taking appropriate measures.
Tips and Tricks to Avoid Online Shopping Scams
In this blog, we will highlight some useful tips and tricks to avoid online shopping scams.
Go through them to figure out how you can take proactive measures!
1. Check if the Payment Method is Secure
The foremost thing you need to do before placing an order on an online shop is to check if the payment method is secure. If the website allows you to receive your product on COD (cash on delivery), you don’t need to worry about checking the payment method.
However, in case the only way to make the payment is through a debit card or credit card, then it’s essential to check the security of the website to protect your payment information. You can check this easily by looking at the URL of the business’s site. If the link starts from ‘HTTPS’ and you see a padlock icon alongside it, you can trust the site with your online payment and consider it secure for online shopping.
2. Search for Similar Products
Several businesses take images of products from stock libraries available online and enlist them as their products in their online shops. This scam is quite popular, as these online businesses sell below-par products by displaying high-quality images. You can prevent this scam by searching for similar products through a reverse image search. This web-based utility allows you to search by image and find sources that contain similar images. If similar image results appear from the same website, then you can trust it for online shopping. However, if the same images appear in other online stores or stock libraries, you should understand that something is fishy.
3. Discover if the Business Has a Physical Address
The online businesses aiming to scam you will never mention their physical address on their websites. It is because they don’t wish to get located and get complaints at their doorstep. Before you trust a website to buy any product online, you must check its contact details. If you find an address, then you can think about trusting it for online shopping. Even after seeing the address, you shouldn’t trust it if the website is new. You can use Google maps to figure out if the given address is correct and if such a business exists.
4. Go Through Reviews
Consumers usually review products they buy from online stores, especially those who get deceived by fraudsters. That’s why every online buyer needs to read the consumers’ reviews to learn more about the products and the online stores. These reviews can help you save money from being deposited into a cheater’s account.
However, many scammers commit customer review fraud by writing fake reviews and posting them on their sites to deceive consumers. You must ignore such reviews. Instead, only read negative reviews and find out if they all complain about the same things. If so, you should believe in them and not shop from that particular store.
5. Don’t Trust Non-Viable Giveaways
Have you heard or read the proverb “anything that glitter is not gold?” This explains much about saving yourself from online shopping scams. Many scammers use the strategy to provide impossible giveaways and a range of free products alongside your purchased order. You should know that trusting these non-viable giveaways can never bring you any good.
Instead, it will result in wasting your money that you won’t be able to recover. It’s a popular scam among businesses selling low-quality products. In many cases, the buyers don’t even receive the product of the right quality. Therefore, it’s essential to be aware of such scams and never get deceived by giveaways that don’t seem possible.
Final Words
Steering clear of scams is in our own hands; we can take measures that don’t let scammers cheat us. The rising trend of online shopping has given scammers a new way to rob internet users. It’s entirely up to you whether you wish to become an easy catch for such scams or be cautious and take steps to save yourself from online shopping scams. You can make your online shopping experience safe and secure by following the tips and tricks highlighted in this blog.
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