Friday 15 August 2014

Online Shopping Scams: Relying on the Anonymity of the World Wide Web



As the World Wide Web is in a constant state of evolution through new advancements in technology including increased reach to more users, the number of unethical and fraudulent activities online are on the rise.

Online fraud takes place quite commonly in situations where one is acquiring goods or services. The more common cases of online fraud include:

Buyers making a purchase online and not receiving the good.
The good the buyer receives is not of the quality that the online seller claimed. It is not like the description said it would be and nothing like what was expected.

The primary problem that the buyers face is that they do not know how to return or exchange the goods and have no way of receiving a refund.

A major issue that can cause problems for an online buyer that has been scammed is the theft of their personal information. Scammers can use personal information to gain access to financial records. By stealing ones identity they can quite conveniently acquire goods and services from various other online merchants.

There are certain measures that can reduce or eliminate the likely hood of an online consumers chances of being a victim of a fraudulent sale or even identity theft.

Feed Back: One must understand how the online merchants website's feedback function operates. This way they can learn of the other transactions made at the site.
Description: A good idea is to check out the good or services description. If one is not sure about the good they would like to buy then they should communicate with the seller through the site and ask all the questions needed to assure that the transaction is not fraudulent.

One should be wary of online merchants that offer a good or service at a value too good to be true. If one finds a good at a price that is unbelievably low, then it is better to avoid that seller. If they try a direct communication approach, then avoid making a purchase from them. The wisest thing to do is to search for other online vendors and compare the price of the goods or services against their offerings.

One should also try to avoid purchasing from online vendors with no prior history of selling via web. One cannot be sure if that given retailer is legitimate or fraudulent.

One must be careful of unusual e-mails that require them to update their personal information. It can be an attempt to commit identity theft.

One should also carefully check the URL of the site as they can use the basic name of an established online merchant but might make slight alterations that are not noticeable. 

One must always carefully read the terms and conditions as many web merchants might have a clause that could allow them to be liable less of any wrong doing.

For reliable discount deals online a person should go to legitimate online vendors and find their discounting promo codes from websites like RedeemACoupon.com.

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