Last year, nearly one-third of scams reported to BBB Scam Tracker by Canadians were about online purchase scams. With 73.3 per cent of those targeted losing money, online purchase scams ranked as the third riskiest scam in Canada according to the 2021 BBB Risk Report.
Research conducted by the Better Business Bureau found that more than half (53 per cent) of Canadians are shopping online more, and 56 per cent spent more time browsing online or social media. These increases are likely contributing factors to the increase in online related scams.
The 2021 BBB Online Purchase Scams Report also noted that the 18-24 age group were more likely to report losing money (81.1 per cent) verses all other age groups.
Online scams are vast and varied and encompass issues such as:
* Paying for items that never arrive or are of low quality or not as promised
* Getting a bill for unexpected import taxes and other last-minute charges
* Fake websites,
* Purchasing or receiving counterfeit goods,
* Subscription/free trial traps
An example of a common online fraud report involves a consumer responding to online ads on Facebook and Instagram. After placing a product order through those ads, victims received nothing or items that were counterfeit or inferior from what the ads promised. Scammers often take product photos or a landing page from legitimate businesses, post them on Facebook and Instagram and take online orders at websites they’ve created. This leads to complaints…
