by Bill Cunningham
The Pearls or Perils of Buying Online
Currently 30% of all we buy is obtained online. So, we should be vigilant about our purchasing for there are many fraudsters earning off online traffic. There’s a lot we should consider before parting with our card details. A lot. The padlock icon in the address bar tells that traffic between us and the website is encrypted. Infor-mation we send over the internet to the site, like our password and card details, are scrambled. To make it practically unreadable if intercepted. But the pad-lock doesn’t guarantee honesty of the website oper-ator. A scammer can add a padlock to his website. We would transmit securely, but to the fraudster! On the website, is there an office contact number; not just a mobile, with full address and email ad-dress? If not, then it’s a gamble. If a UK company name check it out on Companies House register. If it’s there it doesn’t guarantee honesty, but we can see who is the director(s). Other details too. If unregistered, then it’s more of a gam-ble. The stars on retailer review platforms can be manip-ulated. Reviewers can even be rewarded by the seller to give 5 stars. Even if a vendor’s products are first class, in real life some will say they are rub-bish. Reviews with nearly / exactly the same words suggests same ‘handwriting’? Is there a returns policy clearly stated? If using a search engine to look up a business by name or find a service then it’s generally safer to ignore sponsored results. Prices much lower than comparable product/ same product even at a huge discount, elsewhere? We know, don’t we, that if it’s looking far too good to be true then …. For something costing over £100 we should pay by credit card. Read up on Section 75 of the Consum-er Credit Act to see why, and how in detail we are protected. Read about Chargeback if spending less or paying by debit card. This scheme works like Section 75 if goods are damaged, not as described or haven’t been delivered. Remember that bank transfers offer us the least protection of all. Up from nil in 2018 to about 50% chance now of a bank refund.