Everything you need to know about online shopping scams

Online shopping is a quick and convenient way to purchase just about anything you need. When end-of-financial-year clearance events, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and holiday sales start flooding our screens, it’s the perfect time to tick off your shopping list. However, this can be a prime environment for scammers to target victims. Here’s everything you need to know about online shopping scams.

What is an online shopping scam?

An online shopping scam involves a scammer selling fake or non-existent products or services via fraudulent websites or social media. These websites may be clones of popular brands websites or show up in sponsored social media advertising and Google search results, making them look more legitimate.

Online shopping scammers lure in victims with extremely low prices for otherwise expensive products like branded tech items and apparel. You may come across these sites when shopping online, or you may be targeted by SMS text messages, emails or social media advertisements to get you to click bogus links.

How to spot an online shopping scam

Spotting an online shopping scam can be tough, as many sites appear to be legitimate retailers. However, there are several red flags you can keep an eye out for.

• Extremely low prices or special offers. Scammers selling fake products often entice you with heavily discounted items to get you to take a chance on them. If the price of a product looks too good to be true, it’s probably a scam.
• Lack of information on websites. If you’re browsing a website, you should be easily able to locate information like the business’ ABN or ACN, Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. If these aren’t readily displayed, it could be a fraudulent site.
• Unusual promotional emails or SMS messages. Scammers may contact you with special offers sent via emails or SMS text messages to direct you to the fraudulent websites, or to sites designed to capture your information. They may even pretend to be a brand you know and trust.

How to protect yourself from online shopping scams

Being diligent and looking out for red flags when shopping online is the best way to protect yourself. Here are a few things you can do to stay safe:

• Look up the business on the Australian Business Register to see if it’s legitimate. It’s important to look beyond whether an ABN is simply "active" and crosscheck that the public registry details align with the business or store you are shopping with.
• Inspect website URLs carefully. Keep an eye out for misspelt words or extra punctuation likes dashes that can be easy to overlook. Scammers can easily purchase SSL certificates to show a padlock, making the website look ‘secure’. However, this does not prove the website's legitimacy.
• Newly created websites can be a red flag. Online sites like WHOIS can help you check when a domain was created.
• Search for online reviews of a store. Often others will report the fraudulent activity to online forums to help others avoid making the same mistake.
• Check the company’s social media presence. You may find others complaining in the comments section of their content, or they may not have a social media presence at all.
• Never make payments via portals that look unusual and never agree to make payment via any unusual methods like Bitcoin or bank transfer. Funds transferred in this way are extremely hard to recover.
• Always be wary of extremely low prices. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Be extra vigilant during the frenzy of sale periods.

What to do if you think you’ve been scammed

If you think you’ve been scammed, visit www.bendigobank.com.au/security to report it and get support. If you think you have transferred money to a scammer, call us immediately on 1300 236 344.

If you have provided personal information, particularly photo identity documents like passports and driver’s licences, contact IDCARE to take steps to protect your identity.

Learn more about our latest scam alerts and information to keep yourself and your family safe online.