Delhi-based Arvind, 48, not too long ago saw on his Facebook web page the advertisement of an all-in-one printer and scanner, with absolutely free cartridges, and at a discounted value of Rs 659, and believed it was also superior an present to let go. He went ahead, clicked on it, saw the web page, the item, and as all the things looked genuine to him, he placed the order. Even even though he wanted to make the payment via ‘cash on delivery’, but with no choice of COD, he paid via Google Pay. He received a confirmation mail immediately after putting the order, and that was it. There was no more communication, no other way to communicate with the firm. The emails sent by Arvind remained unanswered. After just about a month he understood and accepted that he was scammed.
Online purchasing scams are on the rise presently. Online purchasing scams are not new. They are truly old college tricks, wherein scammers – pretending to be reputable on-line sellers — use either a fake web page or a fake ad on a genuine retailer internet site to trap prospects.
With new and enhanced technologies, fraudsters also get an edge, as it is much easier than for scam artists to dig out monetary information from unsuspecting buyers. Identity theft, on-line scams, information breaches, year immediately after year, diverse varieties of fraud sweeps the nation, leaving numerous victims on their way.
According to a current international report from ACI Worldwide and GlobalData reveals that, when card-connected fraud remains highest in terms of reported incidents from buyers, fraud incidents linked with genuine-time payments had been on the rise from 2019 to 2020 as fraudsters have a tendency to target new channels.
McAfee India’s Managing Director and VP of Engineering, Venkat Krishnapur, says, “The pandemic has led to a huge shift in behaviours across age groups, with consumers avoiding in-store purchases due to social distancing norms or travel restrictions, and preferring to buy things online. This spike in online shopping has opened a new window for third-party sellers and malicious actors to step in.”
He additional adds, “In a bid to avail the best deals and discounts, consumers often unknowingly expose themselves to risks by venturing on malicious websites, where they carelessly give away personal, sensitive information. They also run the risk of falling prey to phishing attacks through spam e-mails and promotional messages.”
What are the warning indicators that one demands to be conscious of?
Online Shopping scams, authorities think, are a outcome of buyers naivety and unawareness relating to warning signals.
Mastercard VP, Cyber and Intelligence Solutions, South Asia, Sujay Vasudevan, says, “Generally, these online scam websites give consumers offers and prices which are too good to be true. Some warning signs include low prices, very less time to ‘get the deal’, asking for immediate payments so that you don’t miss out, insistence for payment by electronic fund transfer or a wire service, among others.”
Note that, if you land upon a fraudulent internet site, the seller will normally insist on instant payment or payment by electronic funds transfer or a wire service. Manoj Kanodia, CEO, Inspira Enterprise, says “If a product is advertised with amazing benefits or features that sound too good to be true, in the majority of the cases it is not true, but fake. Some of the signs that give away the authenticity are when the platforms have limited information about their delivery and other policies, shoddy website design or sloppy English, URLs with extraneous words or characters and limited social media presence.”
According to authorities, ordinarily, scammers do not mention the terms and circumstances, dispute resolution, privacy policy, delivery information and right speak to information and facts. These information are key determinants of a genuine on-line merchant. Vasudevan, adds, “Customers should refrain from using digital currencies and see that the retailer is a domestic or a foreign entity. In addition, they should avoid storing their card details on websites that are new to them or not commonly used by them.”
Here is how you can ascertain if a web page is fake or genuine and defend yourselves from such scams
With the rise in activity from buyers and cybercriminals alike, there is an added concern about no matter whether customers are taking sufficient measures to maintain themselves protected when purchasing on-line. Suresh Rajagopalan, CEO, Wibmo says, “Typically fake websites use address and names which resembles some popular e-commerce website or any other credible entity like government website e.g. tax-related.”
A current McAfee study on on-line purchasing behaviour indicated that most buyers did not have sufficient security measures in location, as only 27.5 per cent of Indians had been equipped with on-line safety options. Krishnapur says, “Consumers need to be aware and alert when it comes to protecting their devices, data and identities from online criminals. Ultimately when it comes to any online activity, always look before you leap!”
Adhering to specific simple, however crucial methods can assist in safeguarding your self from fraudsters
- Always double-verify bargains that look also superior to be correct, even if they’re referred to you by identified folks, and steer clear from unfamiliar e-commerce web-sites.
- Watch out for copycat web-sites, that are set up to look genuine. These websites are developed to harvest individual and monetary information and facts. Check for poor language and grammar on the web page, this usually suggests that the web page is not professionally run and could be a fake web page.
- Make a point to study the overview section of the purchasing web page/portal.
- Exercise caution when clicking on hyperlinks and opening e-mail attachments – do not open the hyperlink if it is from somebody you do not recognize. Instead of clicking on a hyperlink you obtain in an e-mail or text message, search the web page separately in your net browser.
- Always look for the ‘s’ at the finish of ‘https://’ of the URL, which stands for ‘secure’ indicating that the web page is protected and encrypted.
- Employ two or multi-element authentication across all accounts, to provide an additional layer of safety.