Online shopping has made it possible for consumers to buy from merchants and businesses worldwide. Cybercriminals, however, use the anonymity of internet buying to defraud consumers.
Online shopping isn’t always risky. However, internet frauds may also target vendors on well-known sites like Amazon. They may even utilize stolen accounts to avoid discovery.
As internet fraudsters get more creative and devise new, more efficient methods to defraud you of your money, the amount of money lost to cyber scams is also sharply increasing. The greatest defense against scams is to arm yourself with awareness of their current strategies.
The good news is that staying safe is easy if you follow a few straightforward measures to identify new frauds and safeguard yourself. In this article, I will discuss 10 signs your online vendor might be trying to scam you:
1. An offer that seems too good to be true
Offering something that is just too good to refuse, such as free phones, cash awards, or exorbitant discounts, is one of the techniques scammers use and is also one of the most effective.
This technique is effective because it causes overpowering feelings like anxiety and excitement causing us to make decisions in the spur of the moment. You must slow down before responding to any messages that thrill you since only ten seconds of attentive pause will revive your rational thinking.
Typically, products that are advertised at steep discounts are frauds. Or not exactly what’s listed, at the very least. If something seems too good to be true, it most often is.
Remember that legitimate businesses will not run at a loss, so even if their prices are cheap or they offer discounts, it wouldn’t be as cheap as the prices scammers will offer. Legitimate businesses would also never request your personal information or money in advance for a reward.
2. The website is not secure
A website that is not secure is a clear warning sign. Look at the website URL to check for any inconsistencies before clicking on it. Look for spelling mistakes in the URL, such as letters being replaced with digits, if you come across a link that seems to be from a reputable shop. Instead of “http://,” look for “https://” and a padlock next to the URL.
Your financial information is safe to input on secure websites. Your bank account or other information might be compromised by a fraudster if the website is unprotected.
3. Urgency
Scammers will always want you to act fast so you will not have the chance to rethink your decision. If a vendor keeps urging you to perform an action or make a payment, then they are likely a scam.
For example, they might give you a limited-time deal, and tell you how you will miss out on this amazing deal if you don’t act now.
If you find yourself in this situation, wait it out. You will see that the deadline they originally gave you will be extended or a new amazing deal will be offered to you.
Some reputable businesses use this method to drive sales, but it is often seen as a deceptive pattern. They mean to trick you into buying by giving you a sense of urgency and having you decide without thinking thoroughly about it.
4. Scarcity
This is similar to urgency, in the sense that they will make you hurry to buy something by making you think that if you delay, you will not be able to buy it later. They might tell you that they only have a few of the items you want in stock, or that so many people are buying so it might soon go out of stock. Usually, this is not the case.
Honest businesses will not share this type of information with you, try to deceive you, or trick you into buying their products. If your vendor starts saying things along this line, it’s best you stop doing business with that vendor and find someone else.
5.Confirm shaming
With confirm shaming, the goal is to guilt or shame you into buying. They may say things along the lines of “It’s so cheap! You surely have the money to spare for this,” or “Our business is struggling. You can help us by buying from us.”
Remember that your money is yours so you have full control over how you spend it. Vendors who do this are trying to scam you, and even if they are not, it is a very bad practice and you should always avoid vendors that do this.
6. The vendor will not meet face-to-face
If you are dealing with a scammer, they will try every means to avoid meeting with you. They may even avoid calls too, and only contact you through messages and voice notes.
If your vendor is avoiding meeting with you and gives you several excuses about why they cannot meet you, then you are likely being scammed.
7. They are trying too hard to win your trust
A common tactic used by internet scammers is to attempt to win your confidence. They could pose as coming from a reputable source, such as the government or a reputable company.
Spend some time confirming the identity of the sender before making any transaction with them. Searching Google for the company’s or entity’s contact information is often a better option than clicking on a link or calling a number in an email or text message.
8. They only have positive reviews
No matter how great a business is, it can never be perfect, so there will be some customers who have had bad experiences with it. However, when you scroll through a website and you see only positive reviews from their previous customers, you should suspect a scam.
Scammers will want you to trust them, so they will often write fake reviews on their websites to attract customers. You will also notice that most of the reviews will be a few sentences long and will not cover how the customer feels in depth. Or you will notice that a lot of the comments are similar or look too perfect.
9. They request unnecessary personal information
If they ask for unneeded information, it’s a dead giveaway that you are dealing with a scammer. Cybercriminals will attempt to deceive you into divulging private information, such as your bank account details or card number, your password or pin, to “complete the transaction” or get “discounts.” You should refrain from disclosing any private information online unless it is required.
10. There are several grammatical errors in the messages they send to you
Any material or information sent to customers will be carefully reviewed by the majority of trustworthy businesses. Professional emails are concise and without errors. Scam emails, on the other hand, are probably riddled with punctuation, grammatical, and spelling mistakes.
Scammers intentionally compose shoddy emails, which may surprise you. The premise is that the reader is unlikely to fall for the fraud if they are perceptive enough to notice the grammatical errors.
Conclusion
You should be careful when dealing with online vendors, as they may collect money from you for a product you will never receive or collect your personal information and hack into your bank account. if you notice any of the above signs when dealing with an online vendor, then they are likely trying to scam you, and you should stop dealing with them immediately.
