EN
When looking for goods online, a great deal can be very enticing. A Gucci bag or a new iPhone for half the price? Who wouldn’t want to grab such a deal? Scammers know this too and try to take advantage of the fact.
If an online deal looks too good to be true, think twice and double-check things. The easiest way to do this is to simply check out the same product at competing websites (that you trust). If the difference in prices is more than 20% (and 10% for consumer electronics), it might be better to double-check the rest of the website.
You should also think twice about investment platforms that ‘guarantee’ Return on Investment (ROI) with Zero Risk. Every investment opportunity comes with a certain amount of risk - low or high – and this should be communicated accordingly. You might want to think twice when a platform gives assurances for an absolutely risk-free ROI. In European countries, you have max 1 - 3% interest. In other countries max 10 - 15% per year. More is likely to be a scam or very high risk investment.
Social media is a core part of ecommerce businesses these days and consumers often expect online shops to have a social media presence. Scammers know this and often insert logos of social media sites on their websites. Scratching beneath the surface often reveals this functionality is not even working.
The social buttons might lead to the homepage of the website, an empty profile or nowhere at all. Scammer(s) are often too lazy to actually implement a dedicated Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for their fake site (or don’t want a place for bad publicity to spread). If there are functioning social media accounts, take a quick look to see if there are any posts. Oftentimes, if the website is a scam, angry users will let you know!
You should also check how old the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube accounts are vis-a-vis the number of followers they have. Here is how you can check the age of a social media account:
a. Facebook -
(1) Go to the Page
(2) Under the ‘About’ section, you will see the ‘Page Transparency’ tab. Selecting the ‘See All’ option under the tab will show you Page information such as who manages the page, from what location it is managed and of course, the page history. The page history includes when the page was created, if it has been modified since creation and when.
b. Twitter -
How old a Twitter account is usually written in the bio area. It clearly spells out the month and year a user joined Twitter.
c. Instagram -
Instagram does not always show the age off a page but when it does, you can check it by:
(1) Tapping those three dots at the upper-right of the profile you want to check
(2) Select the ‘About this account’ option will show you the date the account was created, the location of the person managing the account and even former usernames if any.
d. Pinterest -
Pinterest does not yet have a means of checking the age of a Board. It was previously possible to check how old a pin was but the feature got removed some years ago.
e. LinkedIn -
While it is not yet possible to check the age of a LinkedIn profile, you can check if the company exists on LinkedIn, and how many employees it has on there.
f. YouTube -
You can check the date on which a YouTube channel was created in the ‘About’ section of the channel’s profile.
Common tell-tale signs of scammers are misspellings and wrong/no punctuation. For the most part, you can even see the grammatical errors at a glance but in the event that you can not, Grammar and Dataeyez are good tools to check the grammar and spelling on a website. They are both free!
Another thing to check for is dummy text. To do this, just go to the ‘About’ page of any website, pick any unique part of the company profile information as written and Google it. If the search returns results showing thesame text on other/multiple sites, that indicates foul play.
Scammers often use placeholder or rushed text in pages like About Us, Terms & Conditions Shipping Policy and Returns Policy to give the air of professionality. If you find that these pages don’t exist or are of poor quality (they contain typos, for example) think twice about shopping on the site! Do you really think a business would put up incomplete or sloppy text if it was legitimate?
Also pay very close attention to the terms and conditions that pop up on the confirmation page while signing up or paying for a product/service online. It usually contains additional details that may prove costly if not properly understood.
A lot of fraudulent webshops use brand names (Adidas, Chanel, Apple) in combination with words like ‘discounted’, ‘cheap’, ‘sale’ and even ‘free’ to get visitors via search engines. Brands usually don’t like to see their products being sold via these kinds of webshops. Premium brands rarely or never put their products on sale or offer huge discounts. Likewise, most serious online stores sell multiple brands and do not tie their livelihood to one brand.
Pay attention to the look and feel of these websites. Legitimate websites have high-quality logos and pictures, as brands want to impress you with their products. Scammers often steal content like images and product descriptions from various sources. This can mean that the look of a website can appear unprofessional, with odd looking formatting or low-resolution pictures.
Trustmarks are a method for third-party verification for an online store. They indicate security or consumer rights protection, for example. However, scam websites also use them without permission. For example, they might have a picture of trustmark on the website without actually being verified, meaning they are misusing the logo and misleading you!
One example of a trustmark is the Ecommerce Europe Trustmark.
Certain sites will try and trick you into thinking they are official websites of known brands, even though they have no relation to the actual company. Make sure that the domain name (the address of the website) is as expected, especially if clicking a link. For example, the real domain name of the brand may be brand.com, while the fake website might use variations like brand.net, brand.org, brand.xyz, brand.biz, brand.online and more.
Still not sure? An easy solution is to search for the particular page through your favourite search engine. Fake sites commonly rely on you clicking a direct link and generally won't be high up in the rankings. If you get an email asking you to click on a link, it’s always safer to manually navigate to the website to be sure that you aren’t on a fake one.
You can check websites on Scamadviser to find out how old the website is. Other information is also gathered about the domain, such as for how long it has been registered.
Domain names that have been registered for short periods of time, say, a year, might be suspicious because scammers don’t invest much money in their websites. They purchase domain names with short validity to keep their costs minimal. Websites which have been created recently and have a short validity are more likely to be scams.
A webshop using a well-known consumer review system is usually a good sign. However, some review systems are better than others. Check if the review system adheres to the Review Certification Standards, meaning in short that the webshop cannot delete or edit reviews without proper cause.
Many fake websites have a Reviews or Testimonials section which is filled with fake positive reviews. They contain made-up names of people, use photos that are taken from random sources and the text is often copied from other websites. Therefore, it is advisable to not rely on reviews that are on the website alone. Websites like Scamadviser, Trustpilot and others allow users to leave reviews that cannot be deleted or edited by companies. Checking external reviews is a way to get a clearer picture of what real customers are saying.
On Trustpilot, you can research the history/review pattern. A lot of manual invites is suspicious, as well as sudden growth in reviews or a distribution of reviews with only 1 and 5 stars.
This may not be easy if you are considering buying across the border. Every country has its own way to register companies. In the USA the Better Business Bureau is a good source. In the Netherlands, you can check the Chamber of Commerce.
Do you see ‘https’ in front of the webshop address and is there a ‘lock’ symbol visible? In this case, communication between the webshop and your browser is encrypted, making the webshop a little bit safer to use. It doesn’t guarantee that the webshop is not fake as the cost of adding an SSL certificate (what you need to secure communication) is free nowadays.
There are many kinds of payment methods. In general credit cards, PayPal and Alipay offer consumer protection by allowing consumers to get their money back in case the product is not delivered. Check if the webshop supports these payment methods. Never transfer money to a bank account if you have doubts about the reliability of a webshop.
Payment methods like Western Union, Moneygram, Skrill and Bitcoin are often untraceable and it is virtually impossible to get money back which has been transferred using these methods. As a result, they are favoured by scammers.
Check whether the webshop has listed its delivery partners. Not all webshops list them, but some integrate a feature to track shipments. The delivery partner/s might also be mentioned during the checkout process. If a reliable delivery partner (such as DHL or FEDEX) is named, this is usually a good sign.
A good webshop knows its customers want to communicate in different ways. Check if the company provides a phone number, an email ID or a contact form and is active on social media. Call the company if in doubt or send a request for more information via email or social media. A professional webshop usually replies within hours or a maximum of two working days depending on the medium.
Having a Gmail address as a contact email is not a very good sign and not very professional. Contact email addresses should be the same as the domain name. No phone number is also not a great sign. (see item 22)
Legitimate businesses do NOT ask consumers to pay in order to access a form – be it a job application form, a contact form, a sign-up form or whatever kind it is. You may be required to pay to access a ‘resource’ on the site, but a preview of that premium resource is usually given. Remember also that legitimate job recruiters will never ask you to pay to apply for a job or to have your application processed.
Websites that have advert banners littered all over the interface are seldom legitimate. In addition to these banners, you could also have a lot of pop-up ads. Legitimate websites have little to no adverts and when they do, they are ALL placed together within a side-bar on the site.
If it promises to make you money ‘immediately’ after you pay without any further action on your part (passive income generation), you should think twice. On the other hand, if a website requires you to pay for a service ‘immediately’ or within a really short time frame such as a few hours in order to gain access, it is most likely not legitimate.
Some scammers buy legitimate domains but do not maintain the website. So while the website domain may be many years old, if the content has not been updated in months, it is likely a scam.
Anymore more than First Name, Last Name and Email Address at sign-up is questionable and can qualify as too much information. There is no need to provide your marital status, employer information, social security number or other such details while trying to sign up for a service.
If a website or online business claims to have been featured in any capacity by CNN, BBC, Forbes or other similarly notatable entities, you would do well to confirm that claim before proceeding to do business with them. You can run a search for them on the website of the organization they claim to have been featured by.
If you pay attention, you can pick out fake generic testimonials or product reviews from the real deal. Check out our article on how to identify fake reviews here. Check out our article on how to recognize fake reviews.
Before you engage that online store or business, check out all the contact information provided on their website.
a. Location -
Check their location on Google Maps; check the reviews (if any) on the location as well.
b. Email Address -
Try sending them an email if there is any provided. Also check to see if it is a personal email or from a generic provider such as Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc. Business emails should carry the domain name (e.g. ‘info@companyname.com’).
c. Phone Number –
Call the phone number(s) provided and gauge your conversation with whoever answers. Are they professional in their responses?
If there are no contact details provided at all or the checks as detailed above do not match up with the information provided on the website, it is most likely a scam.
It does not necessarily have to be a photo, but do you at least have a name or names you can verify on Google and across social media? Legitimate businesses do not hide behind stock images and hidden identities. You can also do a Google image search for the ‘Board Members’ and check if the company management and employees have LinkedIn profiles.
It is alright to use stock images every now and then, but legitimate businesses should use MOSTLY images of their own people, activities and/or products, especially if it is a product-based business. Service-based businesses that do not want to use their images on certain areas of the website opt for illustrated videos or images. Using predominantly stock images on a website is a red flag that indicates the website is most likely a scam.
This is especially important for charities. If you are unsure about a charity organization soliciting for donations, it is wise to check the company registry of the country the organization is located in and verify that they are indeed a legitimate entity. But sometimes, even this is not enough because people register these organizations sometimes and use same to scam the unsuspecting public.
So, ensure you at least verify their projects and listed sponsors/partners. Also, if they accept donations through anonymous channels such as gift cards, cryptocurrency, wire transfers, etc; they are most likely a scam.
When (still) in doubt, do not do it! Our advice here at Scamadviser is that if you are still unsure, it’s better to be cautious and follow your intuition. Don’t let a great price cloud your judgement. If you have doubts, there are plenty of other shops to buy from.
