Online shoppers are being advised to exercise additional caution as the holiday shopping season draws to a close and the pressure to find the ideal gift builds.
Scams, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, the local police, and the Better Business Bureau of Vancouver Island, are at an all-time high.
Fraudsters are most active in times of crisis, such as the one we are currently experiencing, when consumers must simultaneously contend with rising interest rates, rising inflation, and the holiday shopping frenzy, according to Rosalind Scott, CEO of the BBB Vancouver Island.
“People, when they’re desperate to get a little bit more money, are quicker to believe these scams because they want it to be true,” she stated.
Scott claimed that despite only 5% of individuals actually reporting being conned, there is a tremendous amount of internet fraud. “But we do know literally millions and millions of dollars are lost every year,” he said.
More than $380 million US were lost to online shopping scams in North America last year, according to the Better Business Bureau's Scam Tracker, marking a rise of 87% since the tracker's introduction in 2015.
The tracker stated that almost 36% of all allegations of online retail fraud originated from a fake website and that 40% of reported frauds were started by con artists using social media and email.
Experts’ advice
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre noted that in a bulletin released just before Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the two busiest online shopping days of the year, fraudsters have flooded social media feeds with deals that seem too good to be true while "spoofing" websites and email addresses — creating addresses that look like they come from a trusted or legitimate source — to entice unsuspecting customers.
“Unfortunately, fraudsters and cybercriminals use holiday promotions to continue to victimize people. The best way to protect yourself and those around you is by learning what fraud and cybercrime look like and report it,” stated Chris Lynam, the centre’s director general.
This means that customers should be on the lookout for warning signs like prices that seem excessively low, complicated payment procedures, poorly designed websites, stores that omit vital information like return policies, privacy policies, and contact information, online stores that lack security features, or websites with misspelled URLs.
Online fraud is probably underreported, according to Victoria police Const. Terri Healy, because it is hard to investigate and most consumers interact with their credit card providers and financial institutions directly.
Healy advised customers to shop with reputable online merchants, constantly check their credit card and bank statements for any unusual or suspicious behaviour, and steer clear of offers that look "too good to be true. Education and knowledge are your finest lines of defence against fraud. Discuss it if someone has been a victim of fraud or a scam. Inform your family, friends, and coworkers."
Consumers should never store credit card information in a web browser and should only make online purchases on private Wi-Fi networks, not public ones, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Use cellular data or create a virtual private network if transactions must be done over open networks. Additionally, they encourage conducting research, reading reviews, and exercising common sense.
According to the centre, frauds involving online purchases or sales of products or services cost Canada more than $21.1 million in damages in 2021. Over 47,000 victims nationwide have reported $420 million in fraud of all types over the first ten months of this year.
