Tips and tricks to spot and avoid fraudulent online shops.
Many people have lost money to scammers posing as online sellers. How can we conclude where to shop from electronically and where not to? This is how.
1. Are the backgrounds in the pictures consistent?
Although this may happen with some authentic online shops, you should question pages that do not have consistent backgrounds. This is because it could mean the page is simply screenshotting random pictures from the internet and reposting these images on their own page. Most of these pages screenshot from other pages selling similar stuff to what the scammed shop claims to sell.
2. Has any influencer, celebrity or someone you know bought from the shop?
Several authentic online shops invest in influencers to market their pages often by wearing or using whatever product they are selling. This is a form of validation, indicating the market is engaging in advertisements with social media stars and therefore not a scam.
3. Does the shop post reviews that are verifiable?
All authentic online shops post reviews of their clients. These will be videos of clients with what they are selling, screen shots and screen recordings of text messages from satisfied clients. They tag these satisfied customers when they post these reviews. Watch out for this! It’s mighty important.
4. Is the shop consistent in posting and is it interactive with customers?
Online shops which are scams often do not post regularly. They are also not responsive to comments or reposts in regards to their pages.
Yes, these are a few things to look out for whenever you are shopping online. Make sure you don’t lose the money you worked hard for to a greedy person hiding behind a fake shop. Be safe, spend wisely.
