How to identify a scam website store
- Pricing is very good/competitive.
- Initial web address you use gets redirected.
- No real contact info on the website
- The domain is new – you can check this by visiting your country’s domain registrar such as DNC – if the registration date is fairly new, good chance its a scam.
- Check the registrars contact details if available – if its all based in some random country, its a scam. Most legitimate company domains will have their contact details as their corporate details, not a random name in a random town/country.
These sites are very prevalent these days, and are easily setup, so unfortunately its like playing whack-a-mole to take them down.
If you do fall for such a site, best thing to do is IMMEDIATELY contact your bank and get a chargeback on your Credit Card.
Then contact the domain registrar and inform them of the site being a scam and they should be able to look into it and if find it is, take it down.
While these sites are a scam, a lot of the time you will be sent a tracking number for your “purchase”. The tracking number may actually be legitimate and a parcel will arrive at your address from them. But it won’t be what you ordered, 90% of the time its a pair of $2 sunglasses. They do this for the following reasons :
- To use a legit tracking number making you think all is legitimate.
- If a chargeback is requested they can argue that the goods were sent and sometimes the bank will drop the dispute as they have the “proof” that the transaction was successful.
Be safe out there……. and remember, if it looks too good to be true…. it probably is.