Third, look for trust badges or trust seals, which are issued to e-commerce websites by various privacy and security organizations, or by payment processors such as PayPal. These badges or seals are designed to indicate that the shopping websites you’re visiting offer some form of shopping protection and requisite online security measures.
Fourth, check the website’s pages, including its “About Us” page, for grammatical errors, suspicious content or missing contact information. Most scam websites are low-effort attempts to trick consumers, Comparitech said.
Fifth, look up information about the website on forums or the Better Business Bureau’s website. A quick search of the internet, asking, for instance, “Is (x) a scam?” may display revealing online chatter about it. However, if no information appears in either an internet search or through a search of the bureau’s website, it may be too new for anyone to have reported it.
When in doubt, Comparitech advises, trust your instincts to avoid being a victim of online shopping scams.
“It’s often hard to pass up what appears to be a great deal,” Cook writes, “but the old adage usually rings true: ‘You get what you pay for.’”
Founded in 2015, Comparitech provides information, tools and comparisons to help consumers research and compare a range of online services.