SpottingFake Online Shopping Websites
Online shopping is just a normal part ofmodern life, making it easier than ever to purchase goods from the comfort ofyour home. However, this convenience comes with its own set of risks,particularly the threat of falling victim to fake online shopping websites.Scammers are constantly devising new ways to steal your money and personalinformation. This guide will help you identify potentially bogus sites andprovide steps to avoid being scammed.
Identifying Potentially Bogus Sites
1. Suspiciously Low Prices
One of the most common signs of a fakeonline shopping site is prices that seem too good to be true. If a site offershigh-demand products at prices significantly lower than those of reputableretailers, it’s a red flag. Scammers use these attractive prices to lureunsuspecting buyers. “IF ITS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE – ITS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE”
2. Lack of Contact Information
Legitimate websites provide detailedcontact information, including a physical address, phone number, and customerservice email. A site that lacks this information or provides generic contactdetails should be approached with caution.
3. Unprofessional Design andGrammar Errors
Fake websites often have poor designquality and frequent spelling or grammatical mistakes. While not all poorlydesigned sites are scams, a combination of bad design and other red flags isconcerning.
4. No HTTPS
Secure websites use HTTPS (the URL startswith "https://"), which indicates that the site encrypts your data.Lack of HTTPS is a potential security risk. Although many scammers now useHTTPS, a missing HTTPS is still a clear warning sign.
5. Limited or No Customer Reviews
Authentic online stores usually havecustomer reviews. Fake sites either lack reviews or have overwhelminglypositive and generic ones. Cross-check reviews on independent platforms formore reliability.
6. Unusual Payment Methods
Be wary if the site requests payment viawire transfer, prepaid cards, or other unusual methods. These payment methodsare hard to trace and recover.
7. URL and Domain Name
Scammers often create URLs that closelyresemble those of legitimate sites, sometimes with minor misspellings oradditional words. Always double-check the URL for any irregularities.
8. Imposter Sites
Imposter sites obviously can’t have thesame URL as the legitimate site, so they’ll usually have a URL that looks rightbut isn’t quite. They might have a typoin the name, or incorporate the real company’s name into their URL in anon-standard way (“myfakesite.amazon.com.123xyz.com”), or use a letter from adifferent language’s character set, which looks the same to your eye but not tothe computer. Always look for the letter that seems out of place, the Cyrillic(Russian) characters are very popular for this.
How to Avoid Being Scammed
1. Research the Website
Look up reviews and ratings on independentsites. In the USA check platforms like the Better Business Bureau (BBB) forcredibility. Most countries have a Cosumer Protection Agency or you can checkout online sources with names like Scamalert and similar. You can also searchusing the name of the online shop with fraud or scam as the search terms. Aquick search can reveal if others have reported the site as fraudulent.
2. Verify the URL
Check for slight misspellings or extracharacters in the URL. Scammers often create URLs that mimic legitimate onesclosely. See our tips above on Imposter sites.
3. Check the Website’s Age
Use tools like WHOIS to check the domainregistration date. Newly registered sites should raise suspicion, especially ifthey claim to be well-known retailers. The ICANN lookup tool is very useful https://lookup.icann.org/en
4. Use Secure Payment Methods
Prefer using credit cards or paymentservices like PayPal, which offer buyer protection. Avoid using direct banktransfers or prepaid cards. Any site that asks you to pay by bank transfer is highrisk and should be avoided totally, there are many other sites you can use moresafely.
5. Watch for Fake Reviews
Overly positive reviews without details aresuspicious. Verify reviews on independent websites to ensure authenticity. Weknow there is a whole industry of people who are creating fake reviews and withArtificial Intelligence tools and “bots” it is essential to critically assessthe profiles of the accounts giving high reviews.
6. Look for a Privacy Policy
Legitimate sites will have a clear privacypolicy detailing how your information will be used. The absence of such apolicy is a warning sign. In some countries there may be Personal Data Protectionlaws which the sites should also have a reference to. Look for them.
7. Analyze the Website’s Content
Check for broken links, missing elements,and unprofessional language. Fake sites often have these issues due to beingquickly set up without much attention to detail. It is a common psychology usedby scammers to make deliberate mistakes knowing that if you don’t pick these upyou are more likely to fall for the scam.
What to Do If You Think a Shopping SiteIs Fake
If you suspect a site is fake, close thebrowser tab immediately. Here are some additional steps you can take to verifya site's legitimacy:
1. Use a URL/Website Checker
Services like URLVoid and Google’s SafeBrowsing can help verify the legitimacy of a website. Copy and paste the URLinto these tools to check for warnings. Here are some choices https://www.urlvoid.com/ & https://www.avg.com/en/signal/website-safety
2. Look up the Site on a Registry
Domain names must be registered, and toolslike ICANN’s registration lookup can provide information about the site’sownership and registration date. https://lookup.icann.org/en
3. Search for Reviews and Reports
Do a quick search combining the site’s namewith keywords like “scam,” “fraud,” or “ripoff” to see if others have reportedissues. As mentioned above do a simple search for the name of the website /shop and add the words scam fraud etc and follow the results
4. Report Suspicious Sites
If you determine a site is fraudulent,report it to authorities such as the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center(IC3) and the FTC’s Report Fraud website. Most countries now have online /cyber crime reporting mechanisms through the police or a dedicated scamreporting centre. Reporting can also help protect others from falling victim tothe same scam.
So keep shopping but do it the safe way!
Online shopping can be safe and convenientif you remain vigilant and skeptical of too-good-to-be-true offers. Byfollowing the tips outlined in this guide, you can significantly reduce yourrisk of falling victim to fake online shopping websites.
Always remember the golden rule: If itseems too good to be true, it probably is.
And as always you can seek help from us here at Aegis info@aegisinterkatifasia.com
