Online shopping has made our lives more convenient and easier. Instead of going out of the house, facing traffic jams, looking for a parking slot in a mall, and enduring the crowd of shoppers just to buy a single item, online shopping has simplified these tedious tasks into just a few clicks.
Almost everything is available online including food, toys, clothing, electronics, and other merchandise. In most cases, these items are even sold at a cheaper price. Indeed, the internet has become an online mall for those who want to save money, time and energy.
While most of us prefer online shopping over going to stores, we should be aware that there are many scammers ready to prey on us. The online world is very tricky, and anyone is capable of fooling you to get your hard-earned money.
Online shopping scammers range from those who collect the shopper’s credit card number to those who sell poorly-made knock-off items.
Here are some tips on how to avoid online shopping scams as suggested by AARP magazine:
- Check the website- The domain name of the website must be carefully checked. Do away with websites with almost similar domain names to established websites.
- Websites with “https://” instead of “http://.” are more secure. There should be padlock symbol in the browser bar.
- Scammers usually don’t have a phone number or a physical address in the “Contact us” portion of their website.
- Avoid websites requesting for wire transfer payment, international funds transfer or money orders. Money sent through these methods of payments are quite difficult to trace and recover. Sellers who are legit usually accept credit card payments.
- Don’t fall for ridiculously low prices as scammers use this to lure customers. Always research for prevailing prices.
- Always look out for how much personal information the website is asking for.
- When in doubt, do a little research about the seller.