Holiday Shoppers, a Holiday Shopping Season will begin next month. Many fake websites are also getting ready to profit from the festival sale season.
To enjoy the best shopping season of year, people wait all year for Cyber Monday , Thanksgiving Sale and Christmas. A wise person not only knows how to make money, but also where to put it.
Scammers usually target people with extensive ads campaigns that they run on social networks like Facebook and Instagram. They can also use Google Ads to run their ads campaign across the internet.
Don’t trust any ad that appears on any legitimate social media site or other website (including ours). Holiday Shoppers should always verify the background of any website they visit, especially if it is new or unpopular, and if it offers too good to be true.
We don’t want fraudsters to ruin your Holiday Shopping Season by taking advantage of innocent and ignorant people. This article will help you prepare for the festival season.
Holiday Shopping Season: Beware of the Scammers
1. Fake Online Clothing Shops
Scammers place many and varied types of gorgeous dresses in this category under huge sales. You can see the example in Online Shopping Scam Clothing .
These websites have a simple modus operandi: they make beautiful websites with attractive discounts and are pleasing to the eye.
No company has ever put on sale their new arrival clothes. Fake websites sell every product.
Next, they need to decide if they will ship the product. Scammers often send the wrong product to victims, usually after a month. This is done so they can get their delivery slips and release their bank accounts.
People will now choose to either replace or return the product. Scammers will ask victims to return the product and pay shipping charges.
Check if the entire inventory is for sale to determine if a website is legitimate. If yes, the website is most likely a fraud.
2. Fake Online Site Using a Brand Name
Although branded products are popular, not everyone can afford them. Scammers profit from this desire to create fake websites that look like the brand they are selling or use their name. You can see examples in our Category.
These websites have very few characteristics. Their site and domain names are always different. They use similar domain names in order to avoid the company domain.
This website is also very limited in time and does not deliver the product.
3. SMS/Email Phishing
Scammers use phishing to trick people. They pretend to be from a well-known brand and then enter your email or SMS id. They sent phishing links in the message.
These links lead to a fake website, where the user gives their financial and personal details.
They are extremely clever and used many tricks and excuses in order to get their members to click on their links. These are the tactics:
Fake Coupons/ Gift Vouchers: We all love discounts, and gift vouchers are one way marketing teams encourage customers to spend more. Scammers often use the same marketing strategy to get people’s attention. They send out fake emails or SMS promotional messages.
4. Fake Shipment Notification
People expect different packages during holiday shopping season and festival season. People can shop online from the comfort of their own homes thanks to the internet. This segment is also a lucrative market for scammers.
You will receive a message stating that your package has been lost and you must pay a delivery charge to have it delivered to you. These notifications contain a link to phishing scammers that you must click on.
Their ultimate goal is to steal your financial and personal information. The phishing link in the message will take you to a site where they can steal your sensitive data. These links could lead to:
A. Fake online surveys pages: These survey pages look very similar to real ones that offer rewards for completing them. Scammers will ask you for your financial information to reward you after you have completed all the questionnaires.
B. Fake log in pages: It works in the same way.
5. E-skimming
Hackers inject credential-stealing malware onto a retailer’s site to facilitate electronic skimming. Hackers can steal payment information from your shopping cart when you use your debit or credit card to pay.
Holiday Shopping Season Scams
- The average loss for people aged 18-24 was $125.
- Online shopping scams that involve bank transfers are averaging $1,000. Only 2% of victims receive their money back.
- One third of victims were sent incorrect information regarding their delivery. Some claimed they didn’t know about the scam as they had anticipated receiving late deliveries during the COVID-19 pandemic. [Data Source: BBB Online Shopping Fraud Report 2021].
Red Flags to Beware of This Holiday Shopping Season
- Deals too good to be true – Lucrative deals – Discount on every product
- They won’t share their owner information. You can hide their identity from the WHOIS records.
- Copy or duplicate content
- Do not have a presence on Social Media.
- Irrelevant/ Fake customer testimonials and reviews.
- Accepting unusual payments such as wire transfers or cash applications. Scammers are the most common users of PayPal. However, PayPal is also a way for people to get their money back.
- Request detailed financial and personal information.
- Typos and strange wordings
- Strange website addresses
- Fake and invalid contact details Sometimes, they may have the same address as the real person.
E-scams: How to Stay Safe from E-scams
Avoid online shopping scams
- Only shop at legitimate online shops. Avoid being seduced by ads on social media. Avoid making direct purchases through social media platforms.
- The background of the website. You can search for comments, ratings, or reviews about the online shop. You can also check if their owner information is available on the site.
- Use genuine payment methods. Secure transactions can be made using standard payment networks like Mastercard and Visa.
- Avoid unusual payment methods. Scammers will encourage shoppers to use other payment methods than those listed on marketplaces or shopping sites, such as Bank transfers and cash applications like Venmo to complete transactions.
- Never click on attachments or links from unknown sources. Register through the official website. If you need assistance, contact customer service.
13 key dates for this Holiday Shopping Season
- October 31st: Halloween
- Nov. 11: Singles Day, and other major sales events
- November 24, 2022, Thanksgiving
- Nov. 25 Black Friday 2022
- Nov. 26: Small Business Saturday (U.S.A.)
- Nov. 28 Cyber Monday 2022
- Nov. 29: GivingTuesday
- Dec. 17: Super Saturday
- December 24th: Christmas Eve
- Dec. 20th: Last day to ship express
- Dec. 26: Boxing Day
- Dec. 31: New Year’s Eve
- January 1: Sales season
We need your support to spread awareness about online scams. Please like us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We don’t want people to be taken advantage of by scammers. We need your support
WisdomGanga’s team is always looking for ways to make people aware of scams. As a token of our appreciation, you can order a cup for WisdomGanga’s team.
