Shopping online is the new trend nowadays. A customer has an option to buy anything with a click of a button and get it delivered to your doorstep, and online shopping is becoming the most convenient way to shop.
But be careful when you buy a product online because many e-commerce websites scam people by not delivering the purchased products or tricking them into donations.
A fake E-Commerce website is a website that pretends to be an online seller without a physical presence. The scammers claim to offer goods or services at a low price, usually well below the market value.
The scammer may also claim to offer goods and services that are hard to find but readily available to the scammer because of money-saving logistic practices that the company claims are so efficient.
Here are several tried and true tactics to distinguish between a phony and a legitimate website.
- Find out the owner of the website
The first step is to refer top10.com to find out the top most authentic sites after reading trusted reviews. Apart from this you can search for the details of the website owner by following the below-mentioned steps.
- Open the browser and click on ICANN
- Enter the domain name that you want information for.
- Press the LOOKUP tab, and all the details will be available.
- Search for the contact details
Look at the contact information to see if a website is legitimate. Even if the site appears to be highly appealing, if the details they present are missing, regard it as a red signal and do not purchase anything from it.
- Google report for transparency
Enter https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search to see if the site is trustworthy.
Because Google may miss some websites, it should not be relied on to identify phoney E-commerce sites. You need to be extra careful to safeguard your interest and do your research.
- Take the help of Social media
As a cautious consumer, you should read previous customers’ reviews on social media platforms to determine the quality of the ecommerce portal’s products and services, as well as whether there have been any instances of fraudulent activity.
- Return and exchange policies
When buying something online, the first rule is to investigate the exchange and refund policy. If the terms and conditions are explicit, the company is most likely legitimate. Clearly, you should not purchase anything from a site that does not have a return or exchange policy.
Also, if the policy appears to have been copied and pasted from another website, it’s advised not to entrust your money to this site. This is one of the methods to recognize a con because con artists are notorious for not returning products.
- Browser never lie
Your computer’s browser can be an effective tool to spot a fake E-commerce website. Closely examine the appearance of any site that you aren’t familiar with and make sure it imitates a website you trust.
For years, there have been fake websites pretending to be E-commerce sites that rip off their customers. This is because a lot of people get fooled and fall for phishing. A browser like Chrome can help you avoid the scam by detecting the fake website and alerting you.
- Check the mode of payment
A legitimate e-commerce site will take all major credit and debit cards, as well as other non-card payment methods. If a website encourages you to send money via PayPal or Western Union, or only accept bitcoin as payment, that’s a big red flag.
You should avoid buying from the websites that accepts the payment with a method that cannot be reversed.
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