Avoiding Online Scams

Online scams have become prevalent in recent years as online shopping has become more popular and profitable. These scams try to trick unsuspecting shoppers into spending money on something that does not work or exist. They also try to solicit account names and passwords to Paypal or bank accounts, or obtain credit or debit card numbers and information. Online scams can be fairly sophisticated sometimes, but there are a few simple steps to take when shopping online that can greatly reduce or remove the risk of being scammed.

Install Web of Trust

Web of Trust is a free plug-in available for all major browsers (Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Safari) that uses crowd-sourced reports of online scams, vendor reputations, and privacy leaks to warn the user if a site has a bad reputation or is suspicious. The plug-in displays a color-coded icon indicating the safety of the website: green means the site is safe, yellow means to proceed with caution, and red sites are dangerous and should not be used. Since Web of Trust uses crowd reports, there is the chance of false positive (i.e., sites that show as safe that actually are not). The safety rating can be quickly double-checked with any of the following methods.

Enter the site name into a search engine

Simply searching the site name plus "scam" in a search engine will return results from a number of scam monitoring sites and forum posts that others may have made about the site. Browsing these will quickly give an idea of whether or not a site can be trusted.

Email the store before buying

Send a short email to the listed contact address inquiring about an item. Reputable sites tend to have an automated response system set up, though some places may send replies individually. The returned email can give an idea of the quality and reputability of the site - poorly-written emails, or emails from a domain other than the website in question (for example, from @gmail.com or @hotmail.com) can indicate that the site is a scam or something else that is dangerous.

Buy something small

If the purchase does not need to be made in a hurry, it can help to purchase something small and inexpensive from the site first. This shows how well the site handles shipping or if there are shipping delays, if there are hidden costs, if the item gets sent (if it doesn't, the site is a scam, of course). This process will also show how well items are packed and the condition in which they are sent.

Paying for the purchase

Always pay with a credit or debit card or a Paypal account, never with money orders or a bank transfer; it is much easier to get money back this way if the site is discovered to be an online scam. If asked to enter details about a Paypal account, be sure that you are at the Paypal site (the address bar should say "www.paypal.com/"). Legitimate sellers never ask for Social Security numbers or driver's license numbers.