Online shopping saves a lot of time: it’s a practical, fast method, and the shopping arrives directly at your home—an excellent convenience. Not surprisingly, in recent years, the number of people who have chosen to shop on the web has increased exponentially and is expected to grow.
There is no doubt that buying on e-commerce is decidedly more attractive than having to leave the house to reach the store and queue up to try on the goods in the fitting rooms or pay at the checkout. In that case, it is equally valid that you must stay a lot.
Be careful not to run into scam sites. But, in practice, how to understand if a site is safe for online purchases? This is a fundamental question to answer. You could find yourself in the unfortunate situation of ordering things that will never be delivered to you, or, even more seriously, scammers could steal your credit card information. This article will provide helpful information to avoid falling victim to unsafe e-shops. If you stick to some basic rules, you can continue making your online purchases without fear.
First of all, look at the web page you are facing. Suppose it contains annoying pop-ups or requires any installation to view the contents. In that case, we advise you to stay alert because the site of a severe company usually does not exhibit these characteristics. Even more suspicious is a home page full of grammatical errors or sentences that seem to have been translated from English: you should know that, generally, these bogus e-commerce sites with foreign domains do not waste time translating the texts, often relying on programs like Google Translate.
Another piece of advice we can give you is to pay attention to the so-called Https protocol ( Hypertext transfer protocol secure ), which protects the data exchanged between computers and various sites. Therefore, look at the bar where you enter the address of the homepage: if there is a padlock image, it means that you are in an encrypted channel and, most likely, safe. Why do we say most likely? Because it must be emphasized that there are bogus e-stores that have adopted the same system, it is not always said that “padlock” automatically means reliability. So never let your guard down.
Also, remember that a web page shouldn’t redirect you to other portals, so keep an eye on the destination addresses of the links you find. Let’s give you an example. Another helpful strategy for identifying bogus e-commerce is to check how long it has been online: scams on the Internet are short-lived and, generally, close up after twenty days. Please type the URL of the e-shop to check on this Domain Tools site where you can check the longevity of the site: if you discover that it was born recently, use the utmost caution.
The jurisprudence establishes the rules that an online purchases commerce site must comply with to be compliant. There is a series of mandatory general information that e-commerce must make available to the consumer, such as the name, denomination or company name, domicile or registered office. Furthermore, the buyer must be able to easily view all the details – such as email address and telephone number – which allow him to contact the seller and communicate directly quickly.
Therefore, an e-shop with inadequate personal data or an appropriate “contact section” in which there is a telephone number dedicated to customer service, an email or an assistance chat should give you some doubts. In this regard, pay further attention to these details: there is no landline phone number but only a mobile one. Are there “generic” contact emails that do not contain the site domain? Consider that these elements are a sign of low reliability.
Also, know that an e-shop, by law, must display the VAT number and that this is usually found in the footer of the homepage, i.e. in the footer: what we suggest you do is look for it and check its existence on the Revenue Agency website. Another guarantee of being in front of a fully-fledged online purchases is being able to quickly consult prices, rates for the services provided, delivery costs and methods for returning the goods: proof of seriousness for e-commerce is also the specification of the two-year guarantee from delivery of the product for lack of conformity.
Do you know what the best weapon to verify the reputation of e-commerce is? Ask online. First, you can use a tool like Scamadviser, which collects reports from scam victims; this way, you will immediately understand if you are dealing with a reliable site. Another beneficial site in this sense is Trustpilot which allows you to consult many reviews of e-shops. Another option is to contact Google directly: enter the name of the shop in the search bar, followed by keywords such as, for example, ” reliability ” and “opinions”, and see what comes out.
Some shops have a designated area for feedback: reading the experiences of those who have used a particular service before you are undoubtedly helpful. In this regard, we want to point out that a site that does not have a section of this type is not said to be fraudulent, but it is not among those to be preferred because preventing its customers from leaving reviews could be an attempt to hide a low-quality service.
If you’ve read the article, you already have essential tools to avoid falling victim to fake e-commerce. Remember to shop online purchases safely. You must keep your operating system current and install a good antivirus.
We also suggest that you use prepaid cards with little money so that, in the unfortunate event that your money was stolen, the amount you would lose would be reasonable. Furthermore, constantly monitor your account and report any suspicious transactions or expenses you must remember having made. If you discover strange transactions, block your card and file a complaint.
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