Safe shopping online 5 tips on how not to run into scammers

Petty internet fraud is one of the most common crimes. According to the Cyber police, last year alone, more than 94,500 complaints were registered about the sale of fake goods on the Internet or the extortion of bank card data through phishing, child pornography, sexual harassment, anti-government, financial frauds. Safe shopping online 5 tips on how not to run into scammers.

It is clear that a person has a desire to buy goods profitably and not spend too much time shopping. This is often used by fraudsters. They make too sweet offers and manipulate the emotions of the buyer, forcing him to make a payment. As a result - no money or goods.

1. Check the area where you buy

Always try to use stores and sites that are time-tested and well-known among the people. In addition to a large selection, they have internal consumer protection systems, support and services that make shopping safe - in contrast to little-known online stores, which often do not even have a secure connection.

You always have to be careful. Scammers often create duplicate sites of even well-known brands to steal your money. Instead of paying for the goods - the money goes to criminals through a counterfeit form of payment. Such resources are called phishing.

2. Choose your sellers carefully

Pay attention to the market price. There are now many aggregators that collect data from various online platforms on the price of the product - from the lowest to the highest. So you will have a value benchmark. If the price on the site is much lower or higher than the average mark, it should be the first bell - buying something from this seller can be risky.

Also look at the photos of the product. Usually decent buyers take pictures in detail to show the real condition of the product and interest the buyer. Scammers do not spend time on it and upload photos from the Internet. For example, among the photos of the phone you want to buy, there is a photo with a box and markings on it. Thanks to the labeling, you can determine in which country this phone was actually sold. There are also many services (such as Google Images) that can show how many times and on what resources this photo was used.

3. Always ask questions about the product

In communication with the seller do not hesitate to ask about the product, try to find out as much information as possible.

If the seller has the goods on hand, he will provide you with a detailed description. If you start "swimming" like "I'm not home now" or "There is no goods nearby", it should be another bell for you - you should not buy from this seller. By the way, this also applies to those moments when you want to call the seller, and he tells you that he cannot speak. The reasons are different: the microphone is broken, the dog is asleep, I feed the pigs for another two hours, and they grunt loudly. But the real reason is one: fraudsters do not talk on the phone, so as not to betray themselves. After all, behind the user with a female name can often hide a guest of any correctional colony.

4. Keep calm and take your time

If the seller asks you to prepay - do not rush to transfer money, because this method is often used by fraudsters. They "sell" non-existent goods and use psychological pressure. For example, they insist that you buy a thing as soon as possible, because he has ten potential customers in line. Another method is to put pressure on emotions: as if the child really needs money / for treatment / to pay a debt. In this way, criminals use the noble feelings of their victims.

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Then how to pay for goods so as not to lose money on the card? There are proven methods: a personal meeting with the inspection of goods or cash on delivery. However, these options are not always available to the parties to the agreement.

If the link to the alleged payment via OLX is sent by the seller in any messenger - there is a high probability that it is a scam. You do not need to enter any data there, even if this site is very similar to the original. It is important not only to notice an attempt at fraud in time, but also to report it to help prevent fraud from other users.

On OLX, artificial intelligence algorithms check 130,000 ads for compliance with the rules every day and analyze 15,000 suspicious profiles. Additionally, ads are checked using manual moderation, and through special services there is a constant process of detecting and blocking a dozen phishing sites-clones of OLX. That is why criminals try to translate the dialogue into Viber, Telegram or WhatsApp - where the buyer is no longer protected.

5. Use basic cyber security rules

Previously the most popular was prepayment, in 2020 the main fraudulent tool was phishing - the use of fake sites to obtain personal payment information. In almost all cases, criminals use psychological manipulation - methods of social engineering: they pretend to be sellers, buyers or bank employees and persuade the victim to voluntarily disclose their data.

In order not to give fraudsters any chance, it is necessary to follow simple and effective rules:

• Always read the rules of the platform where you plan to buy something;
• Refuse to discuss the details of the agreement in messengers - only the chat platform can accurately guarantee protection;
• Do not follow third-party links sent by strangers in messengers;
• Do not disclose your personal / payment data;
• Report violations to the Cyberpolice and Support Service. In case of disclosure of card data - contact the bank.

You can learn more about cyber security and existing online threats.