Here at Irish Country Living, we continue to keep our readers updated on online scammers. And we all really need to be more vigilant online, especially in light of information released by An Garda Síochána this week.
The most recent figures show that, collectively, Irish consumers lost €22m in credit and debit cards fraud in 2020. There was a 50% increase in reported crimes compared to 2019. A lot of this happened around Christmas when up to 10m online transactions were carried out.
Online shopping fraud is where the buyer doesn’t receive the goods after making payments, receives fake/counterfeit goods or goods not as described. And it has continued to increase with more of us shopping online during the pandemic.
Tips
The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau has issued this advice:
Use secure websites. Make sure the website you are on is real – not cloned or fake. Make sure there is an “https” at the beginning of the web address and a padlock symbol displayed beside the URL before the purchase is made – this indicates a secure connection. Look for the trust seals. Trust seals are commonly placed on homepages, login pages and checkout pages. They’re immediately recognisable and they remind visitors that they are secure on this page. Know the website’s policy on refunds and know your consumer rights. They are protected if proper site used.Where selling platforms offer an official, safe way of paying, use this rather than sending money directly to a third party. Otherwise use an online payment option such as PayPal, which helps to protect you.Check their payment methods – there should be credit card options. Never transfer money direct or pay cash.If a website is asking you to send money to a random PayPal address, wire it by Western Union, pay in iTunes gift cards or only deals in cryptocurrency, that should send up a red flag. The majority of the time, those methods are done to avoid scrutiny and ensure that a transaction can’t be reversed.Always keep a record of your purchase, print or save a copy of your order. Ensure you read the terms and conditions associated with any purchase. Be careful about cut-price offers – if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.Do not, under any circumstances, use public WiFi when making payments – switch to 3G/4G on your phone if necessary.
Here at Irish Country Living, we continue to keep our readers updated on online scammers. And we all really need to be more vigilant online, especially in light of information released by An Garda Síochána this week.
The most recent figures show that, collectively, Irish consumers lost €22m in credit and debit cards fraud in 2020. There was a 50% increase in reported crimes compared to 2019. A lot of this happened around Christmas when up to 10m online transactions were carried out.
Online shopping fraud is where the buyer doesn’t receive the goods after making payments, receives fake/counterfeit goods or goods not as described. And it has continued to increase with more of us shopping online during the pandemic.
Tips
The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau has issued this advice:
Use secure websites. Make sure the website you are on is real – not cloned or fake. Make sure there is an “https” at the beginning of the web address and a padlock symbol displayed beside the URL before the purchase is made – this indicates a secure connection. Look for the trust seals. Trust seals are commonly placed on homepages, login pages and checkout pages. They’re immediately recognisable and they remind visitors that they are secure on this page. Know the website’s policy on refunds and know your consumer rights. They are protected if proper site used.Where selling platforms offer an official, safe way of paying, use this rather than sending money directly to a third party. Otherwise use an online payment option such as PayPal, which helps to protect you.Check their payment methods – there should be credit card options. Never transfer money direct or pay cash.If a website is asking you to send money to a random PayPal address, wire it by Western Union, pay in iTunes gift cards or only deals in cryptocurrency, that should send up a red flag. The majority of the time, those methods are done to avoid scrutiny and ensure that a transaction can’t be reversed.Always keep a record of your purchase, print or save a copy of your order. Ensure you read the terms and conditions associated with any purchase. Be careful about cut-price offers – if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.Do not, under any circumstances, use public WiFi when making payments – switch to 3G/4G on your phone if necessary. 
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