Archive for November, 2009
The Fake Review Site Scam
The internet has opened a whole new avenue for marketing of products. E-business volumes have gone up significantly and with the proliferation of the internet these will increase many times over in the future. The internet apart from creating a marketing opportunity has enabled a lot of creative means to market products.Initially it was just plain vanilla marketing, and then came in the online procurement and payment systems. Along with this came the process of evaluation of the products. Forums were created to discuss the products etc. If done with a good intent this would have been excellent way of letting the consumer make a right decision based on the actual inputs and feedback from other consumers. Unfortunately, the internet has huge disadvantage of being anonymous and as a result this facility can be misused in wither promoting a product or vice versa.
In many cases, it could be that there is a cabal formed by affiliates who can post very positive reviews about a product which can lead a potential customer to believe about the product based on the feedback only to understand later when they actually receives the product.
Can this be curbed? Not really.
However there can be other checks and balances that a potential consumer can put to use. Post queries in forums that are not managed by the site that you are referring to. Check the trend of the responses. If you find all positives with very little negative inputs then you need to find out be extra careful and cautious so as to make additional checks. Also try to find patterns in the language, the date of the posting and such other pointers as these could sometime give away these aspects quite blatantly.
Additionally, try finding out feedback from other websites which may sell a competing product as there could be a reference available about the product that you are looking for. Use other set of data pointers like whether the company is a listed and reputed brand, its existence, your ability to check out the product at a local store, the place from where the company is conducting its business, the mode of payment etc.
One must not be carried away by the fact that this is internet marketing. After all it is human and therefore there has to be caution exercised.
Another aspect to be borne in mind is the information available on the internet has not reached a point where it can be easily used in a court of law for mis-representation as the marketers could always claim that they were not aware of the person who posted that information. It will take time for cyber laws to evolve, and it is doing so slowly.
If you cannot make a decision, then you may choose not to buy it. It is better to buy a known product for a few dollars more than buying something worthless and repenting. It is better to be safe than sorry. In summary, whatever the checks and balances, the maxim – Caveat Emptor – Let the Buyer Beware prevails and products sold on the internet are no exception.
Happy online shopping!!
Protect Your Identity – Don’t Be Scammed
The internet provides a whole host of opportunities that were not available just a short time ago. One less desirable opportunity that has become a part of using the internet is coming into contact with unscrupulous people who are using the internet to rip people off.
And there is no shortage of opportunities to be ripped off if a person is not careful!
So to avoid being ripped off you have to make every effort fend off the many rip off artists that now prowl the net. There are some basic steps that you can be taken to protect yourself from internet rip off scams.
The first step to take is to make sure that you have a current version of a comprehension antivirus, anti spam, anti spyware program loaded on all computers that you use to access the internet. The cost of the program verses the risk and likelihood of attack is very good. The average software package can be purchased for fifty to sixty dollars.
The second step to take is to develop some routines that you follow when using the internet. Never go to a website that you are not certain is safe. Good antivirus protection software such Trend Micro will flag sites that are potentially being used to scam and rip people off. If that warning comes up do not progress onto that page.
Next if a website requests personal information without good reason, do not give out the information. The only site that you want to give personal information to is a site that you have contacted to do business with. If you haven’t contacted the site for the purpose of making a purchase or doing some kind of internet activity such as playing a game do not fill out anything that requests your personal information.
The next step to take is to avoid giving information in response to confirmation requests. Your bank or online payment website or online auction site will not request that you give personal information in response to an email. They will ask you to visit their site and update it. Scam artists are sending requests to confirm information for all kinds of different types of accounts including credit cards, online payment sites, bank accounts, college financial information, or anything else that might contain personal information.
Another key step you can take to protect yourself is to avoid websites that are typically used for scamming.
Many different types of websites tend to be favorites for scammers.
Any website that offers you something for free in exchange for taking a survey that includes personal information should be avoided. Sites that offer adult content and sites that offer video games that you can play are also favorites of the scammer.
Both are addictive type sites that can catch you in a weak moment and steal your personal information. Another ploy that scammers use is dating and singles websites. The scammer will try to make a personal connection in order to build trust that leads to the theft of your personal information.
A little caution can go a long way in protecting oneself while on the internet. The reality is that you do not have to be ripped off. Many online scams these days are so well put together people don’t realise they were scammed even after the event!
We will take a look at some popular scams over the next few weeks.
Getting ripped off is not mandatory.