Common Online Shopping Scams and How to Avoid Them
Between 2015 and 2020, there were reports of at least $420 million lost through online shopping scams!
As online shopping is going to continue to rise, you can expect online scams to continue to increase. As a result, online shopping safety will continue to be a concern.
So how do you protect yourself from shopping scams when you buy products and services online?
Here are a few online shopping scams and how to protect yourself from them:
Super Valuable and Super Cheap?
Imagine if someone was willing to sell you a Bugatti Chiron for $50,000. You would know immediately they were trying to scam you.
You should apply this same logic when seeing a deal online. Let’s suppose you’re trying to learn how to start an online business. You might find an online course that was originally priced at $800 and now sells for only $19.99!
This is likely a scam. The seller is lowering the price just to grab more customers but doesn’t intend to provide anything of value.
Untrusted Brands
As a general rule, you should always buy from well-known brands.
For example, to avoid NFT shopping scams, you want to look at BAYC. This is one of the most trusted influencers in the NFT space.
Finding a trusted brand can be tricky as the internet is full of honest content creators and eCommerce entrepreneurs who haven’t reached a level of fame.
How can you distinguish those honest digital entrepreneurs from scammers?
Make sure they’re selling through a trusted platform. For example, an eBook author can sell through Amazon or Gumroad. An eCommerce store can use a service such as Shopify.
You should also read online reviews and testimonials of a particular brand. Avoid any brand that doesn’t have overwhelmingly positive reviews that are recent.
Never Save Your Payment Information
No matter how inconvenient it is, you should never save your payment information to your account.
You should always enter your credit and debit card information each time. You can also use a service that helps you create a virtual credit card number. This masks your actual credit card number from potential scammers or hackers.
You should also consider using safer payment options. You can use services such as PayPal that mask your credit card information from online retailers. You can also use cryptocurrency for making private transactions.
Make sure you always make payments through payment authorization services. For example, you should never send someone cash through Venmo and then expect them to email you their eBook!
Make the payment directly through the website from where you’re buying the product or service.
Avoid Online Shopping Scams
Now you know the best ways to avoid online shopping scams and ensure you have a safe online shopping experience.
You want to avoid anything that seems to have lots of value but also has a low price. This is likely a scam product, and you should avoid it.
Make sure you always work with trusted brands. If you work with a brand you’re unfamiliar with, make sure they’re partnered with a trusted digital retailer.
You should also never save your payment information. Look for alternative sources on how to make payments.
You can find more business and lifestyle tips on our blog.
