Many South Africans have fallen victim to bogus e-commerce websites which ‘sell’ products at an immensely reduced cost, coaxing buyers.
There are several factors which should be kept in mind to guard against falling victim to these scams.
Also read: The cost of hosting the Olympics: South Africa’s potential bid
Nclose co-founder and business development director, Stephen Osler, warned that the scams are often centered around a fake website. These websites either mimic an e-commerce platform or they impersonate another individual.
Once these platforms have been established, scammers will promote the website to the widest possible audience.
The ultimate goal is to steal the credit or debit card details of unknowing victims, in order to make use of the cards for payments.
MyBroadBand highlights the ways in which one can assess the validity of a website or payment portal.
The main rule is ‘if it is too good to be true, then it is’ comments Osler.
Furthermore, users should be mindful of the URL and confirm whether it matches the actual site. The differences are often well-hidden so upon hesitation, calling the business is the safest bet.
The URL encryption should also be checked. If it starts with https://, the site is encrypted, whereas http:// means it is not.
On the website’s payment portal, users are advised to check for regulated security controls such as the Visa or Mastercard logo.
Osler further claims that if after these checks, the offer still seems inconceivable, users should contact the platform and find out whether the product is currently available on its website for the advertised price.
Lastly, Yima is an online tool which can be used to run a free security check on a given website, to validify its safety.
Also read:
City of Cape Town logs nearly 115,000 service requests monthly
Picture: Peter Dazeley / Gallo Images
