Deceptively real-looking websites
Scammers running fake shops on the internet are getting better and better. Such a fake website is often not recognizable as such at first glance. The design of the site is modern, there are many photos of the products, the navigation and the rest seem normal. But then how can you tell if the website you’re trying to order from isn’t fraudulent?
The first clue to a fake shop is often a conspicuous internet address. It is worth taking a close look here. Even a hyphen in the URL or a transposed letter, which often goes unnoticed at first glance, means a completely different website than the original. The consumer center also points out that unusual domain endings such as “.de.com” can also be an indication of a fake website.
Another indication that the website is a fake shop is often the low price that lured you there. Anyone who finds products on unfamiliar websites at below-average prices should always be skeptical and carefully check the seriousness of the website.
Payment in advance is often not safe
Caution is especially required if the goods can only be ordered against prepayment. Because that is the typical trick of many scammers. The money has been transferred, but the goods never reach the customer. A reputable website usually offers different payment methods – if you pay by invoice or PayPal, you often have the chance to ask for your money back even after several days. If the goods are extremely cheap and can only be paid in advance, buyers should sit up and take notice.
However, scammers on the Internet are quite flexible. Even when paying by cash on delivery, you should not buy blindly – because who knows whether the package actually contains the desired goods and not a counterfeit or a completely different product? Great caution is also required if the account to which the money is to be transferred is abroad – i.e. the IBAN does not start with DE – and the account name does not sound like a company account.
Check terms and conditions and imprint
Online shoppers should also not blindly rely on customer reviews on the site itself. Of course, these can also be fake. Buyers should sit up and take notice, especially when the reviews are overwhelmingly positive. It often helps to search a search engine for entries on the respective website – if others know that it is a fake shop, you will often find forum entries or information about it.
If you are unsure whether it is a fake shop or not, you should also check the terms and conditions and the imprint very carefully. However, it is often not clear to the layperson whether the terms and conditions are correct or not – they can also simply have been copied from another web shop and be correct in principle. An imprint must always be present – if none exists, all alarm bells should ring for the buyer. A complete imprint must list an address, an authorized representative and an e-mail address, as well as a reference to the commercial register with an identification number, the consumer advice center writes on its website. If in doubt, this can be checked more closely.
By the way, if you fall for a fake shop, you should act immediately. If the payment has already been made, the bank can be instructed to reverse it – this is often possible after a short period of time. In addition, all information exchanged with the fake shop should be saved. E-mails, sales contract, order confirmation are just as much a part of this as a screenshot of the offer. To ensure that more people don’t fall for the scammers, you should also file a report with the police. This might protect the next person from being scammed.
Editorial office finanzen.net
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