Consumer Protection is warning Western Australians not to reward scammers with a Christmas gift.
Commissioner for Consumer Protection, Gary Newcombe said that so far this year, WA ScamNet had closed down about 200 fake websites and almost 100 social media pages.
Mr Newcombe said among the items being ‘offered for sale’ were motor-homes; exercise equipment; popular electronic devices, including the latest mobile phones or game consoles; puppies and pets; and farm machinery.
“About 200 WA shoppers have reported losing a total of almost $700,000 to online shopping scams in 2021,” he said.
“With summer and Christmas just around the corner, seven bogus websites selling barbecues that were attempting to cash in on the increased seasonal demand were shut down, but not before many consumers were burnt.”
Mr Newcombe said despite these shutdowns, the websites would often quickly reappear under a different name.
“It will never be possible to close down all these fake websites and social media pages, so it’s really important that online shoppers are extremely cautious before entering their personal and financial information during a purchase, unless they are confident the site is genuine,” he said.
“The websites look very professional and may even steal the identity of a well-known retailer or brand, so it’s easy to be fooled.
“The items for sale may be offered at very low prices, which trigger a shopper’s excitement to bag a bargain.”
The Commissioner said one important tip was to look at the overall quality of the website, grammatical errors in text, poorly-edited images and whether they provided an actual address for their location.
“The best warning sign that a retail website is a scam is the method of payment,” he said.
“Be very suspicious if scammers ask you to pay via electronic funds transfer or using a money order, pre-loaded money card or a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, as it’s rare to recover money that is sent this way.
“The best insurance against being scammed is to pay only by credit card or a secure payment method such as PayPal, as there is an opportunity to get your money back if something goes wrong or the item is not supplied,” Mr Newcombe said.
