In the last year or so there seems to have been
a dramatic increase in online advertising that offers amazing items for
incredible prices but is in fact a complete scam.
Imagine a glossy video ad that has all the
elements of a brand-new device but is so cheap that you are easily drawn to
click ‘buy’ before really analysing who is selling and why.
A Social Media Minefield
About a year ago, I searched online for some new
cargo shorts and a few hours later – as if by magic – an ad for exactly what I
was looking for popped up on that popular social media site we should all stop
using.
I opened the ad, watched the promo, looked at
the catalogue and picked out a pair of shorts which arrived within about three
months, despite selecting ‘express shipping’!
By this time, I had danced with the payment
system to try and reclaim my funds but to no avail and had already bought
another pair and gone on the trip I’d planned.
But when they arrived, they were so badly made
that it was almost funny and while they were not expensive, I felt I’d been careless
and was suitably annoyed with myself.
But lesson learned, right?
Wrong.
About a week ago, I did it again and this time I
knew immediately that I’d made the same mistake.
The Signs
As with all deception, the signs are not always
present or easily apparent but generally speaking, these types of online fakes
have a few hallmarks you might notice.
The main tip-off…
