Don’t Be a Victim of Internet Fraud
Shopping on the net has become ever-popular, and is tremendous for the shopper - it’s made it effortless to shop. Also, a more competitive market unified with low running costs has encouraged low selling prices for items.
Even So, as the shopping market has grown, so too has the necessity to be aware of your consumer rights, and what to do if you find yourself with faulty items or items that don’t even turn up. Information is available on the web, like the consumer protection act 1987.
Another consideration is what payment gateway to use to buy something, as each payment provider has its own terms. To take an example, Paypal act as an independent judge only for physical goods, not digital downloads. Understanding this type of information is the difference between getting your money back or being a victim of internet fraud.
Our pearl of wisdom is to do your preparation about the seller : do they publish their phone number and postal address? What is the seller’s privacy policy? Their returns policy? Their terms? All these enquiries must be resolved before you consider buying from the vendor.
Another very important point to think about: how is payment taken? These days, it’s not enough to merely look for “the padlock” (SSL certificate) - this won’t tell you how they store your information, only how it’s transmitted when you make the order. If in any doubt, only purchase from vendors who use 3rd party payment gateways such as PayPal, Google Checkout, WorldPay, SagePay and NoChex.Also you can see what reputation the seller has with his payment provider, e.g. check his PayPal account and how many orders have taken place on this individual account.
