CSR: Four Steps To Avoid Online Shopping Scams
In the world where everyone wants everything at the click of a button, online shopping has become a daily exercise. Big retail websites like Amazon, and Flipkart have actually become bigger than most of the physical retail stores. However, this has also caused a rise in the incidents of online shopping scams. According to Experian’s Digital Consumer Insights 2018 report, 1 out of 4 customers in India is a victim of online scams.
As the internet has become the everyday tool to trade, gossip or consume content, it is not really possible to completely stop buying or selling things online, even with a high risk of fraud. However, there are certain preventive measure that can be taken in order to avoid the scams as much as possible.
In order to stay away from the scams there are four details that need to be taken into consideration before entering any details or conducting a transaction.
Security status of the site:
The first test to see if the site is secured, is to see if it is an HTTPS site. If the site is HTTPS, the details you enter is going to be encrypted and protected from intercepting malicious parties. However, many phishing sites can appear safe because they use HTTPS. So the second test is to see if the domain name includes the name of the company. Because not all the websites use a technology that displays their verified identity information in the address bar without it being 100 per cent accurate. You can also check who the domain is owned by.
Reliability of the Site:
In order to save yourself from after losses, it is important to run a background check on the site before putting any valuable information in it. https://safeweb.norton.com/ is a website safety checker by Norton which allows you to check the website safety by putting its URL in the search bar. Other than that, it is always wise to look up the website’s user reviews and also check their Wikipedia page.
Authenticity of the contact details:
Checking the authenticity of the contact details is one of the easiest ways to check if the party is fraud. Every website as a rule of thumb has contact details displayed on the website. Verifying it by making few phone calls, looking up in the directory or google earth, and calling up the vendors to re-verify it can actually save so many scams from happening. Another tip off is to look for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes in the contact details for that could easily be a scam.
Too good to be true factor:
Have you ever looked at an offer and felt that it is too good to be true? Well of you have then it probably is! The scam sites often promote products on extremely low prices tempting you to make an impulse purchase. These prices are low with or without any sale season. When the order is placed, the purchaser often receives damaged or substandard product leaving them with regret.
It is certainly not possible to stop online shopping altogether. But it is wise to stop and do some background work instead of making an immediate purchase in the fear of missing out on an amazing offer. Because if the offer is true, it would surely be profitable but if it is not, it will bring in a lot of mental, physical and financial damage.
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Regards,
The CSR Journal Team
