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The rise of online shopping hasn't just been brilliant for shoppers. It's been fantastic for fakers, fraudsters and other online villains too. And now that Black Friday and other big sales events are looming, those criminals are coming for your cash with fake sites and counterfeit products. The good news is that we know how to fight back.
Trying to bag a bargain? Here's how to be sure it's legit
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Fake shops
and fraudsters
are coming
for your cash.
Unfortunately it can be. Some scammers sell fake goods; others have fake websites that don't have any goods at all. And because they use the same tools as many real online shops, even expert eyes can be fooled. We've seen these sites trying to trick people into buying big-name headphones and earbuds, designer clothes, electronics and e-scooters, among many other products.
If you get conned by one of these scammers, you might never receive anything at all – or if you do get a delivery, it'll be a terrible copy, something completely different or in the case of some battery-powered devices, something that's downright dangerous. Earlier this year the charity Electrical Safety First warned that counterfeit e-bike and e-scooter chargers were causing serious and sometimes even life-threatening fires.
Fakes have been around since forever, of course. But online, it's never been easier to make fakes that can fool even the canniest customers.
Is online shopping really dangerous?
Norton, the consumer Cyber Safety brand, blocked over 3.5 billion online
threats in 2022. And they have four bits of wise advice to help keep you safe
when you shop.
The first is verify before you buy: if a site or a deal looks too good to be true – designer sunglasses for a tenth of the price, perhaps, or an e-bike deal that's much cheaper than any deal you can find anywhere else online – it's crucial to make sure that the site is the real thing. You can do that by checking out
reliable review and rating sites such as TrustPilot.
If someone is contacting you, for example by calling you to tell you that there's
a problem with your computer or one of your accounts, make sure they are who they say they are. One of the most common scams doing the rounds just now is fake tech support callers: get their name and call the company they
claim to be from.
When buying online, protect your purchases. Use secure payment methods such as credit cards, which have fraud protection.
And every day, beware what you share. It's all too easy to give out personal information online, and that information can be used to target or even trick you.
How to fight the fraudsters
”
If someone is contacting you, for example
by calling you to tell you that there's
a problem with your computer or one
of your accounts, make sure they are
who they say they are.
“
It’s absolutely crucial to ensure that you have good quality security products to protect you when you're online – not just on your PC or Mac but on your tablet or phone too.
The best security products can protect you from all kinds of online problems including fake websites, phishing scams, malicious software, spyware, ransomware and other high-tech horrors – and they do it quietly in the background so you can get on with the fun stuff.
One of the cleverest new security tools you can use is called Genie. Genie, from Norton, is a revolutionary scam detection system that uses the power of advanced AI algorithms to tell you whether an email, a message or a website is a potential scam – and it can do that even if the mail, message or site has never been seen before. That's because the AI analyses a massive database of known threats to pick out the tell-tale signs of something dodgy – signs that are often so subtle and so intricate that most humans wouldn't be able to spot them. Genie is always learning, so every time you upload a suspicious text, email or web address you’re helping make Genie smarter
The easy way to protect your everything
What that means is that you can shop, share and be social online while worrying less about spammers, scammers and other unwanted attention. So if you see a deal that you worry might be too good to be true, you can ask Genie to take a look and tell you if there's any reason to be suspicious.
You're probably thinking: that sounds expensive. But Norton Genie is free. Simply point your web browser to Norton.com, or install the free Genie app on your smartphone or tablet. In seconds, you'll have the power of Genie available
to help you 24/7.
The combination of Genie and Norton's award-winning security products
is incredibly powerful, and can help make your internet so much safer.
Click here to find out how Norton can help you spot the scammers,
fight the fraudsters and vanquish the villains on all your devices.
Here's how to fight back
”
We've seen these sites trying to trick people into buying big-name headphones and earbuds, designer clothes, electronics and
e-scooters, among many other products.
“
Here's how to fight back
Here's what you know