Online shopping gained more popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic. Most businesses worldwide have shut their brick-and-mortar stores and shifted online to carry out their operations.
Research shows that more than 263 million people in the U.S. shop online, which accounts for 80% of the American population. Researchers argue that over 291 million people in the U.S. will purchase products and services online by 2025.
Although advanced technologies have made life easier, they have also paved the way for scammers. For instance, hackers, scammers, and cybercriminals use cutting-edge technology to create and launch fake websites, including retail shops.
These sites look legitimate and attract people to purchase products or services. The reason is that they have good layouts, minimalistic designs, and premium-quality logos (possibly stolen logos).
In addition, some websites even have domain names like abc.com.uk, com.nz, com.au, and com.us. Because these domain names look genuine, scammers easily trap consumers and steal their money and sensitive information without ever delivering the products or services.
According to AARP, 29% of consumers over 50 became victims of online shopping scams. It starts with a fake website, smartphone app, and social media advertisements.
Another study highlights that 40% of online scams, particularly retail-related ones, originate from social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Therefore, consumers must take a careful approach to recognize fake or bogus websites or social media ads to prevent the risk of scams. The information in this article will help you easily recognize fake online scams.
How to Recognize a Fake Shopping Website?
Shopping on a bogus online platform can cause severe consequences for consumers. For example, users enter their personal and financial information when buying a product or service from a website.
When the user does not receive the desired product, the scammer steals the sensitive data and misuses it. At the same time, clicking an ad on unsecured websites, such as those that sell pirated digital products or torrents, can infect a user’s PC, laptop, or smartphone with malware.
Cryptocurrency is also on the rise these days, and there is no coin bigger than Bitcoin. But regrettably, scammers can also target Bitcoin. There are many fraudulent bitcoin businesses out there, so to determine whether they are legitimate, we recommend reading this quick guide from cyber-forensics.net on How To Identify A Bitcoin Scam.
Therefore, users must identify red flags to prevent scammers from stealing sensitive information/data or infecting the device with a virus. Let’s now discuss how people can recognize a fake or bogus website.
Focus on the Address Bar
Focusing on the address bar means looking for the website’s security. For example, the site is secure if the website has “HTTPS” at the beginning of the address. On the other hand, if there is no “S” at the end of the “HTTP,” it is not secure and may infect the device with malware or viruses.
“Https” indicates the website uses standard security protocols and encryption methods to protect sensitive data and prevent hackers from stealing it. Although “HTTPS” means the website is secure, it does not indicate genuineness or authenticity. Therefore, considering other factors is crucial.
Pay Attention to Contact Information
Contact information is another factor to consider when determining whether the shopping platform is legit. Consider the following questions before submitting sensitive information, such as a credit card number or placing an order.
- Does the website have an “About Us” page?
- Does the website have appropriate contact information?
- Is the contact information correct?
- Does the company/platform mention its phone number, email, and physical address?
- Does it offer live chat support?
- Does the site have a traditional/generic email form?
- Does it send prerecorded voicemails?
Answering these questions won’t fully determine the legitimacy of a shopping website, but it will help users get an idea. Some websites use live chat support, but a digital robot or preprogrammed algorithm gives generic answers to users’ questions. If such is the case, the chances are that the website is fake. Make sure a real person answers the questions.
Check the Domain Name
Scammers and cybercriminals mimic popular websites and change an alphabet or number in the domain name to fool consumers. For example, the original website is Amazon.com. Users may see a website with a domain name like Amaz0n.com.
Similarly, Yahoo.com is the original domain name so the scammer may create a website with a domain name like Yah00.com. Therefore, consumers must keep an eye on the domain name; if something looks suspicious, they should block the website and never open it in their browsers.
A Lack of Intuitive Website Design
A popular business or brand has an intuitive, user-friendly, and mobile-responsive website design with accurate information and well-structured pages for products/services, About Us, and contact information.
Check whether the website uses original images or stock photos on its products’ pages. The simple way is to download the image and upload it to “Google Images.” Finding the same image on several websites means the product a person wants to buy is fake or does not exist.
In addition, read the content and check for grammar and spelling. If there are too many mistakes or grammatical errors, avoid buying from such platforms because genuine companies spend thousands of dollars creating engaging, accurate, and original content.
Read Reviews on Third-Party Sites
Research shows that 84% of consumers read online reviews on third-party websites like Yelp or Google before buying a product or service. Although most shopping platforms have reviews on their websites, they could be fake.
Therefore, check third-party websites for reviews to see what previous or other customers say about the platform.
Takeaway
Finally, that it is important to be cautious when shopping online these days. Make sure to research before purchasing any item at the retailer and on the website you plan to visit. These frauds are simple to avoid if caution is taken. But if you’ve already been duped, I urge you to take action as soon as possible. We looked into many different services that could help you with this, one of which is cyber-forensics.net. It is an online cyber intelligence service that protects you and your personal information from scams. If a client sends money to a cryptocurrency scammer, cyberforensics.net reviews your case and can identify the receiving wallet.
Finally, please share this article with your friends and family so they can avoid online scammers.
