Kolkata: Online shopping is fun. It can also be expensive in the sense that a moment’s indiscretion can result in the bank account of an individual being wiped clean by fraudsters. Online shopping is one of the happy hunting grounds of the scamsters. One must follow these safety steps to protect one’s money in the bank as well as private financial data.
With the growing popularity of online shopping, cyber criminals have started taking advantage of it and now begun defrauding people through fake e-commerce websites. Police and banks are flooded with such complaints.
Fake e-commerce websites are the new weapon in the hands of fraudsters to lure customers. These are named very similar to the original popular websites so that most buyers don’t notice the small differences and walk into the trap, losing their hard-earned money in the process. The festive season is time for heavy buying and people order a bewildering variety of stuff — mobile phones, shoes, clothes, electronic goods, groceries, household items, personal care products. In the flurry of purchases it is easy to drop one’s guard.
There have been instances where the website simply disappears within a few days and by that short times scamsters have made crores of rupees through criminal activities. Criminals are now taking the help of technology freely to swindle unsuspecting individuals.
How to avoid frauds
The first rule is before placing any order and making any payment, scrutinize the website and its URL. Scan every character of the URL. Pay special attention to the name of the website. There must not be any misspelling, however innocuous it might look.
Look for https and the lock symbol, say experts. Links to secure websites start with “https://”. Moreover, one should not trust unusually cheap offers. If offers exceed 50-60%, become suspicious immediately.
Take time to go through reviews. See what buyers have stated about the product, portal or the buying experience. As a standing measure, please note paying cash on delivery is always a safer mode since one cannot get the payment and disappear if this mode is activated.
Never for once click on links that look suspicious. It has been seen that fake sites and offers often come via email and/or WhatsApp. If you get swindled even after taking precautions, file a report promptly with the authorities with all evidence.