You are facing an online shopping scam when you inadvertently purchase a product online from a fake website or from a fake advertisement placed on a genuine website. The product may not exist, be counterfeit or of inferior quality.
How to deal with Online fraud: steps to follow
- Try contacting the supplier. There may be a legitimate reason for the problem.
- Contact your financial institution immediately if: the security of your bank account has been compromised; you have detected unusual movements in your credit card account; you have not received a response from the retailer or are not satisfied with the response you received. This way, you can prevent further thefts.
- Change your passwords. The fraudster may have your password, so you should change it, setting a strong password with at least 15 characters, including upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.
- A code phrase may be easier to remember. You can include unusual words or words from different languages in this sentence. You should also change the login details of other accounts where you use an identical or similar username and/or password. Assign a unique password to each account.
- Update your antivirus to combat new viruses and protect your device.
- Report fraud. The information provided can help to capture the perpetrator of the fraud and prevent further incidents. To find out where to get advice and report crime in your country, see https://cybersecuritymonth. eu/cyber-first-ai or the criminal authorities in your country.
- Make sure you keep all evidence of theft, e.g. emails, invoices, receipts, ad copy.
- Share the experience with your family and friends to help them protect themselves.
