What is an Online Shopping Scam?

-

An online shopping scam will usually include a scammer using a fake website or fake social media account/ store to trick you into buying something from them. The scam will usually also involve using fake adverts to try and lure victims in.

A scammer will try and use unbelievable deals and services such as shipping overnight and free delivery to trick victims into not thinking twice and just acting on instinct.


The goods that the scammer is offering are usually fake or you just never receive them. They will often ask you not to pay by card, but to use an EFT payment, gift card or cryptocurrency.

Not only that, but a scammer will try and trick you into giving out your personal information, such as your bank information, by asking you to fill in a form to finish the order or to sign-up.

Online shopping scams continue to increase every year, here’s how to spot and online shopping scam:

- You receive an email from an online store, but you cannot find any info about them such as their website and the link to the limited deal or offer looks fake.

- The deal is almost unbelievable and it is offered at an incredibly low price.

- There are other amazing services included such as free shipping and delivery overnight.

- The deal on offer always has a time limit.

- You are asked not to use your credit card to make the payment, but to rather pay using EFT, gift card or cryptocurrencies.

- If the online shop is on a social media network then there are almost no details or reviews that you can reference.

- You cannot find direct contact numbers on the website or no one responds to your enquiries.

- The online store website has noticeable spelling errors and does not look professional.

Always remember that if it looks too good to be true then it probably is!


Looking to learn more about our OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) services? Contact us on 021 110 0422 or email contact@osint.co.za

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Phishing, Smishing and Vishing!

-
Image
Letting your guard down can lead to serious consequences, especially when it comes to fraud through your emails, SMS’s and even telephone calls. Phishing, smishing, and vishing are some of the many ways that criminals may try to defraud you… Here’s what you need to know about phishing, smishing, and vishing! Phishing: This is a scam that takes place through emails. A typical attack will occur when you receive an email that looks real, either appearing to be sent from your bank or other financial institution.  Most of the time the email will ask you to click on a link or update your private account information. Even though these emails may look legitimate, they are simply trying to scare you into clicking a link that will lead to a legitimate-looking website – but it isn’t! They will try and scare you into clicking links by saying, “your account has been blocked.” or “you need to install this new software to stay protected.” If you fall for this fake email, yo...
Read more

The 4 most popular Spam Scams!

-
Image
If you have any sort of common sense you would know that there isn’t a prince or member of a royal African family that wants to send you their millions with no strings attached! However, even though this sort of scam has been ongoing for many years, the overall principals of a spam scam are still going strong and continue to grow and become more malicious each and every day. These are 4 of the most popular spam scams that like to pretend to come from an actual legitimate source, often tricking unknowing people into clicking on links and opening dangerous attachments. Fake password changes One of the most common scams is the password change alert or confirmation email that users will receive either from their bank, social media network or another trusted source. The scammers will trick the users into thinking their accounts have been hacked and urge them to click on a link or open a malicious attachment to reset their password. False bookings These scams ap...
Read more

Social Media Safety - Twitter

-
Image
Whether you tweet once a day or constantly tweet updates throughout the day, you need to remember that if you’re using Twitter you need to be aware of the security and privacy risks. Here are five important safety tips to remember when you’re using Twitter. -- Never share personal information It is best to keep all your private information such as your phone number, address and email address, out of your Twitter profile! Geotagging is an optional feature that is able to make your exact location public, it is also best to switch off this setting too. -- Update your password Hackers can easily gain access to your account if you have used a weak, easily guessable password. Use a strong password and change it every few weeks for maximum security. Make sure to include uppercase and lower case letters, numbers and special characters in your passwords every time. -- Never click on suspicious links Often hackers will try a phishing attack on you through your ...
Read more