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In the multitude of great deals someone is guaranteed to be trying to trick you. You can avoid it by following these tips.
Black Week / Black Friday is a holiday for shopping, and this year online shopping on the big sales week is likely to hit much higher numbers than ever, due to the pandemic.
– We save time, avoid queues, compare prices with a few clicks and are friendly to infections, says Frende Forsikring IT security manager Kristian Kastet.
But it also means that scammers are ready to take advantage of the situation, he notes:
– They are ready to fool Norwegians looking to make a bargain on Christmas gifts online, says Tina Jerstad, marketing manager for cxLoyalty, a company that helps those affected by identity theft.
Four times as many fake stores
According to Virke, there are more than four times as many fake online stores as real stores, writes insurance company Frende in a press release. In a survey Norstat conducted for Frende Forsikring, respondents state the following:
- Seven out of ten say they could have been misled by fake online stores
- Two out of three fear being scammed online
- Two out of three 2 out of 3 are afraid of being exposed to identity theft
– People want a simple shopping experience. Online stores are doing what they can to fulfill the wish, so we’ll choose them, says IT security manager Kristian Kastet at Frende.
Also read: Warn about Black Week deals: How to avoid being scammed
– We let ourselves be manipulated. We often shop from our cell phone while doing other things. It can also be difficult to spot a misspelled URL that leads to a fake online store on a small mobile screen, says Jerstad at cxLoyalty.
– You can buy products in your name
If you click on a temptation in a fake online store, this is one of the risks:
– If you end up on a fake website or online store, an identity thief can intercept your personal information. These can be resold on the dark web, says Kastet. The thief can also save the information and buy goods in your name.
Also read: The Consumer Council: cheap products from foreign online stores can be life threatening
Identity theft leads to extensive and time-consuming cleanup afterward. Kastet recommends verifying the consequences of such an event with content insurance. But to put it down, the simplest advice is also the most important:
– Use your head and common sense this week. In a sea of offers that are almost too good to be true, there are scammers trying to fool you. It can cost you a lot more than you save on the “deal,” says Kristian Kastet at Frende Forsikring.
For example, the old “too good to be true” mark applies:
– Do you see an iPhone for 4,000, ask yourself: will the store really sell me such a cheap phone? Others sell it for 8,000. If you have the slightest doubt that an online store is “real”, you should never order products or leave card information there, Berit Børset, DNB’s director of IT security, told Nettavisen the last time we wrote about this.
This is how you see if the store is fake
Here are some points to check:
- The URL has typographical errors. The scammers copy a real online store and use an address that is almost identical to the original online store. Think about it: how often do you check the spelling of the URL when browsing, especially on your mobile?
- Contact information is missing. An honest salesperson wants to be found by their customers and is therefore generous with contact information. Find the name, postal and email address, phone, and organization number of a website.
- Content full of typographical errors. This may be a sign that someone has used Google Translate and published a junk shop to lure unsuspecting Norwegians.
- No lock or certificate. To the left of the URL, you will often see a character similar to a padlock. This indicates that the communication between your computer and the website is secure because the information is encrypted. While this is a good sign that the site is serious, there may still be scammers operating the site. Here’s how to verify that a website’s certificate is genuine.
How to shop safely
Do a Google search before buying from an unfamiliar online store. Read reviews from other users. Stop and think before paying for an item or service in advance. Instead, use credit cards and payment solutions like Paypal.
Check the list of fake online stores of the Norwegian Consumer Agency.
An online store certified with the Trygg e-Handel brand follows Norwegian and EU regulations on buyer’s rights and seller’s obligations. You will find all online stores with this certification on the websites of the secure eCommerce page here.
Please do not provide more personal information than is absolutely necessary. After you have paid for an item online, make sure your card information is not stored in the online store. You are often asked if you want to save the card information. Answer no to this.
Do you want to check if the URL is authentic? You can do this in Virustotal or Sitesafefy.
Did you find a promotional offer? Enter the full URL, rather than clicking on links from online or social media campaigns.
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