You may be putting yourself at risk when you shop online if you don’t know what red flags to watch out for. Here are some things to tip you off that the site you’re shopping on may not be trustworthy.
With info from Get Cyber Safe, here are some red flags for online shopping.
Red flags
The site looks unprofessional. It may be poorly designed, have broken links, or misspelled words/bad grammar. Usually, a legitimate business will have a properly run site that appears professional without any spelling mistakes.
The contact information is missing. You can’t find an address, phone number or email address. This is important information for any business to have. It should be easy to find and clear how to get in touch with the company.
The return & refund policy is missing. Businesses can set their own refund and return policies. This information should be available on the website. If it’s not there or very unclear, it’s not a good sign.
The back button doesn’t work. If you find yourself stuck on a page and can’t go back to where you were, this could be a sign that the site is not very legitimate.
The site asks for your credit card info early on. You shouldn’t be asked to provide your credit card information until the time of purchase.
Still unsure?
If you’re still not sure about the business, start by reading some reviews. Reading reviews is a really good way to weed out the bad operators and get a sense of what people are saying about the company.
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About Consumer Protection BC
We are responsible for regulating specific industries and certain consumer transactions in British Columbia. If your concern is captured under the laws we enforce, we will use the tools at our disposal to assist you. If we can’t help you directly, we will be happy to provide you with as much information as possible. Depending on your concern, another organization may be the ones to speak to; other times, court or legal assistance may be the best option. Explore our website at www.consumerprotectionbc.ca.
Please spell correctly. The paragraph titled “Still Unsure” that goes on to say “If your still not sure . . .” should actually be spelled “you’re”.
Thanks for pointing out the typo! It’s fixed now:)
How to get ‘it’ touch should be how to get ‘in’ touch .
Thank you for pointing that out, Colleen!
What about a site that shows not secured or certified? Is that a red flag also?
Hi Tina! Thank you for your question. We’re not the expert on this issue but you may want to avoid unsecured or not certified sites. We wrote a post about free trial scams a while ago (the link here) and we cautioned people that if a site does not show https:// with “S” at the end which is a security feature – then avoid purchasing anything on the site. I hope this info helps!
I hVE question.Today I received two small parcels I had definitely not ordered, both correctly addressed to me, from the sum shipping company. I tried to phone them but no one answered. I have the parcels, which I opened because I was trying to figure out what they were. What do I do now? Is this some sort of new scm?
Hi there, thanks for the question. This situation is in a blog we’ve written that you can visit here: https://www.consumerprotectionbc.ca/2015/10/i-never-asked-for-that-so-do-i-have-to-pay/ . I would suggest checking your credit card statements to see if there were charges made that are related to the packages. If your credit card was charged for them, you will need to contact the credit card company to get the charges reversed. If you were not charged for the packages, you can keep them according to the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act. Hope this helps!