How To Spot Deal Frauds?

Answer 1

Whether you're braving the malls or shopping online, there are things to out look for before giving your hard-earned money to any retailer.

Avoid Unknown Business Name

If you've never heard of a company until you went shopping, check them out thoroughly before buying anything from them. Not all new retailers are scammers, of course, but if your family or friends haven't heard of the place and you can't find any information about it online, move along.

Search for Free Offers

The old adage, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" applies more than ever these days. The free offers for electronics or other high-demand items are so tempting that you want to believe it's for real. That's exactly what the scammers want you to believe. This is frighteningly common on social networking sites, but is prevalent all over the internet. What usually happens is that you have to pay some sort of "fee" to get the item sometimes they will claim it's for shipping and handling or some other small fee, payable by credit card, of course. What ends up happening is that you don't get your items, and the crooks have your credit card information.

Find Rock Bottom Prices for High Dollar Items

This is especially true of knock-off brands of luxury items, like handbags, electronics, watches and other items. Don't be fooledthey're counterfeits, pure and simple. You may think it's harmless copycatting, but it's much more than that. It's not only illegal to purchase these items, experts say that there is a connection between the sale of counterfeit items and other large-scale crimes, such as the illegal drug trade. Law enforcement agencies also suggest that counterfeiters may be in business to fund terrorist organizations.

Look out for Bogus Websites

Websites selling just about anything you could want seem to be popping up by the thousands this year. It's cheap and quick to get a domain name and build a website that looks professional enough to fool the average shopper. The shopper is further lured in by the bargain basement prices for the hottest, hard-to-find items. You give them your credit card information and you never hear from them again. The bad news is more than not getting what you paid for; you're now at risk for identity theft.

You can tell the real from the fake. Telltale signs of a bogus website are: no physical address or customer service phone number; grammatical errors in product descriptions or registration email responses; and checkout processes without security.

Legitimate retail websites offer secure checkout for their customers. Don't take their word for itlook for "https" when you start the checkout process.

Pay with Cash

Nearly all legitimate businesses accept credit cards, especially for major purchases. A few exceptions exist, of course, but if the retailer insists on cash for major electronics or an online retailer insists on a wire transfer, or asks for your credit card information be sent to them via email or other unsecure manner, stop. It's almost certainly a scam.

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