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With online shopping offering so much convenience to the public, it’s also created an ideal channel for scammers to deceive and rip off online shoppers.
How it works
This type of scam involves someone pretending to be a legitimate online seller, most commonly with a fake ad on a genuine retailer’s site.
What to look for
A key indicator that may highlight if an ad or website isn’t legitimate could be the method of payment. Requests to pay via pre-loaded cards or wire transfer are an unusual request and make it almost impossible to recover funds in the case of a scam. Looking for a URL starting with `https’ and a closed padlock symbol in the browser are some security features to be aware of and payments via secure payment platforms such as PayPal are a much safer option.
