According to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), there have been several recent reports of a new online shopping scams. It tricks online shoppers with exciting new deals on popular brands. These scams are exploiting some lax PayPal policy. Vulnerable online shoppers are being deceived into paying for goods that do not exist. At face value, the website and products looks credible. Shoppers are redirected to PayPal to complete their purchase. Afterwards, the customer gets an email notification containing a tracking number from one of the big logistics companies. Usually DHL or FedEx are the chosen couriers.
Scams
Days later the tracking numbers would indicate package delivery. However, in reality the package never arrives to the shoppers. Even as shoppers attempt to track the package, they are unsuccessful. When victims try to investigate they are told the package was sent to the wrong address. Even when they attempt to make corrections to the address, the website is unresponsive at best. At worst it is quite unhelpful. These sites usually do not have contact information. The ones that do would ignore the phone or emails according to the BBB. Victims trying to process refund claims after the online shopping scams are often rebuffed by PayPal under its purchase protection policy. After investigation, PayPal found that scammers entice victims to front sites. Many scammers also bought adverts to increase the web traffic on these front sites.
Avoid online scams
To avoid being the prey to scams of this nature, there are a few things online shoppers can do. Firstly, shoppers must be careful when selecting sites for shopping. Even on credible sites scammers can easily redirect shoppers to imitation sites. Shoppers also need to ensure they are using a secure connection when shopping online. Just by ensuring the website’s URL begins with https:// can make a difference. Additionally, sites without a privacy policy are also an indication of potential fraud. Especially the more common online shopping scams. Lastly, when shopping online it is always better to use a credit card. By doing this shoppers can better dispute fraudulent charges.