When buying online we can find many scams. They can send us a fake product, steal our password, request payment but then not send anything… Let’s see what are the most common scams when buying on Amazon or eBay and what you should do to avoid them and be able to buy safely online. Internet.
Common scams when buying online
Both Amazon and eBay are widely used platforms for online shopping . They are very popular and that also means that hackers or scammers can set their sights here. There are certain scams that are more common, although luckily we can avoid them if we take into account some tips and there is also more and more protection in purchases.
very different product
The first common deception is to send a product that has nothing to do with what you have ordered. But beware, on many occasions it is not such a “scam”. That is, let’s say you buy a cell phone on eBay. That product has a name and specifications . Many times it is an imitation, they change the name slightly and the appearance is almost the same. Now, if you look closely at the specifications you see that it has nothing to do with it.
They use this strategy to sell mobile phones or any much cheaper product, but in reality you are buying something fake, which has nothing to do with what you expect. Therefore, in this sense it is essential to read the specifications very well, see comments from other users, ratings…
You never receive the order
Another common scam on Amazon or eBay is that we never receive the product. Perhaps we have bought from a new seller, who has simply put a number of items up for sale, received the money, and then fled. He never gets to ship anything he has sold.
To avoid this, beyond always buying from serious sellers, that we see that they have good valuations, it is important that we make the payment through a means with which we can claim. For example PayPal or bank card. In this way, if we do not receive the product we can be protected.
Shipping with wrong name
This deception is not so common, but it has been seen on some occasions. What the seller does is send a product to your house, but with another name . In this way, the shipment appears as if you have received it, but seeing that it is addressed to another person, you decide to return it through the courier company.
That order will be recorded as returned, as if the customer did not want it. But of course, you are not really making a complaint that it came defective or something like that. This strategy is used by sellers to take advantage of the good work of the victim.
Phishing attacks
Phishing attacks are not directly related to sellers, but rather to hackers taking advantage of eBay and Amazon. They usually send an SMS or email where they tell us that our order has had a problem, that someone has tried to access the account, etc. It is important to know if a page is Phishing.
What they are looking for is that we need to click on a link and put the data. But of course, that information actually ends up on a server controlled by the attackers. In this case, the essential thing is to maintain common sense and not make mistakes of any kind.