Online shopping scams

What are online shopping scams?

Online shopping scams will pose as a buyer or seller and attempt to trick you into making a payment to them.  This includes puppy scams, buyer/seller disputes and difficult to find or highly popular items such as concert tickets. 

Unfortunately, scammers love online shopping too and can easily create very convincing yet fake websites for you to complete your purchases. 

A key thing to look for is an unusual method of payment such as a wire transfer, prepaid cards or cheques. Online retailers would not ask you to make payments for goods through an online store via these methods. 

How to spot a scam

Be wary of any offer that seems too good to be true, such as luxury items or popular brands being offered at unusually low prices.
Don’t rush or be pressured by ‘limited offers’ or end of sale ‘countdowns’ – scammers always try to create a sense of urgency.
Online stores or classifieds that request you use non-secure payment methods. These include wire or bank transfers, money orders, preloaded gift cards and electronic currencies like Bitcoin. It’s rare you’ll be able to recover money sent this way. 
Websites may lack credentials such as a privacy policy, ABN or ACN, or T&C’s and there may be no contact or escalation details. 
Issues with the URLs (mis-spelt or similar names) and unregistered/recently registered websites.

How to protect yourself

If you need to create accounts with online stores, make sure you use strong and unique passwords. Don’t reuse your internet banking, email or social media passwords.
Navigate directly to an online store using your web browser, rather than by clicking an email or social media link. 
Be cautious of missing privacy policies, terms and conditions or refund information. It should be easy enough to contact customer service if you need help – even better if they have a phone number or physical address.
Only make payments for products via the websites secure payment method - you should not need to pay via wire transfer, prepaid card or cheque. 
Look for websites with a https and a closed padlock symbol.
Make sure you complete regular software updates on your devices and ensure that anti-virus software installed on devices is up to date.
Regularly check your statements. If you’ve been shopping online, keep an eye on your transaction history and report anything suspicious as soon as possible.
If shopping for second hand items from social media or another online marketplace, ask as many questions as possible upfront, look at the seller’s profile and past feedback.

Let us know ASAP if you think you have been the victim of a scam

Report suspicious activity

Things to remember

Never provide your 6-digit e-banking security code to anyone - in person, over the phone or online even if they claim to work for your bank and have personal information about you.
Never provide a caller with remote access to your computer.
We will never ask you for your e-banking PIN, e-banking password or 6-digit e-banking security code.
We will never ask you to login to e-banking via a link sent in an SMS or sent in an email.
We may call from time to time and ask to verify your identity by asking for your verbal password. However, we will never ask you for any PIN, password or security code relating to your e-banking. If you feel uncomfortable, you can always verify our branch contact details on our website and call us back.

View other types of scams