Online Shopping: Purchase Scams

9th March 2023

New research by Get Safe Online has shown a significant rise in online purchase scams, with more than 8 million Brits falling victim to this type of fraud at least once during the last year and 30% noticing more fake websites and sellers when shopping online.

Purchase scams involve being asked to pay in advance for goods or services that are never received, with digitally-savvy criminals creating professional-looking websites, social media profiles and documents that appear genuine, but are in fact fake. With 62% of Brits saying that the cost-of-living crisis has changed their regular shopping habits, fraudsters are exploiting this shift in behaviour and creating new ways to target their victims.

The FBI has also recently warned that scammers are buying adverts on search engines and impersonating well-known brands.

When someone searches for the brand or product, one of these adverts may appear near the top of the search results. They lead to scam websites which use the branding of the genuine company to appear legitimate; however, they have been designed to steal customers' personal and payment details.

How to Avoid
Pay by credit card or a secure online payment system for stronger protection. Be suspicious if a seller will only accept payment via bank transfer.

Make sure you have contact information for the seller in case something goes wrong. The website should list a valid return address and contact details - be suspicious if a UK website has a returns address overseas and check that the address is listed with Companies House.

Look out for spelling or grammatical mistakes and poor-quality images - these could mean that a website/store is a scam.

Your consumer rights are generally the same whether you're shopping on the high street or online. When shopping online, you also have the right to a 14-day cooling off period for most purchases.

Use the Get Safe Online Check a Website page - an easy-to-use online tool which helps you to determine whether a website is likely to be legitimate or a scam before you visit it.

Find out more
Get Safe Online: www.getsafeonline.org/howtomake15kinamonth
Advice from the National Cyber Security Centre: www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/shopping-online-securely

Advice from Which?: www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-to-spot-a-fake-fraudulent-or-scam-website

Advice on your consumer rights from Advice Direct Scotland: www.consumeradvice.scot/knowledge-centre

Original article: securityaffairs.com/cyber-crime/search-engine-advertisement-services-abuse