Research by the consumer advice center reveals the extent of online fraud / control is necessary during domain registration
At first glance they usually look like normal online shops. But anyone who orders here will not receive any goods and will not get their money back. A study by the market watchdog team at the Brandenburg Consumer Center shows: 4.4 million Germans have already fallen for such bogus shops online. Consumer advocates criticize a lack of control during domain registration.
As a representative survey of Internet users in Germany showed, many Germans have never received the goods they paid for or a refund of the purchase price when purchasing something online. With a total of over 4.4 million people affected, fraud by fake shops can be assumed. Further research by the consumer advice center sheds even more light on the extent of the problem: With the help of a single automated search query on Google, the market watchdog team was able to identify more than a million URLs that consumers use to reach fake shops - certainly just the tip of the iceberg. A closer look at the URLs found also shows that the fake shop operators often use deregistered domains, for example from private individuals or local party associations. The original domain holders, on the other hand, have hardly any legal recourse.
More security for consumers through identity verification required
67 percent of consumer reports to consumer advice centers about fake shops concern “.de” domains. These domains must be registered via a registrar or directly with the central registration office DENIC. To do this, the domain owner must, among other things, provide their personal data. The problem: DENIC does not check the data entered. “Fraudsters can easily register domains under false names and address details and are therefore inaccessible to those affected by fake shops,” explains Dr. Kirsti Dautzenberg, market watchdog team leader at the Brandenburg Consumer Center. “An identity check during registration could significantly reduce the emergence of fake shops.” The registry in Denmark is showing the way. The proportion of fraudulent web shops on all Danish websites was still 6.7 percent in November 2017. After the introduction of stricter identity checks, this value fell to one percent by March 2018.
Tips for those affected
tips from the consumer advice center show how online buyers can recognize a fake shop :
Anyone who has already transferred money to a fake shop should immediately ask their bank to reverse the payment. This is usually still possible a few hours after an online order. With other payment methods such as direct debit, the payment can be reversed up to eight weeks after collection. You also have to contact your bank about this. In addition, those affected should file a criminal complaint with the police .
For individual help, consumers can take advantage of the advice from the Brandenburg Consumer Center:
- personal consumer advice, make an appointment on 0331 / 98 22 999 5 (Mon to Fri, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) or online at www.verbraucherzentrale-brandenburg.de/termine ,
- Telephone advice on 09001 / 775 770 (Mon to Fri, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., 1 €/min from German landline, mobile phone varies) and
- E-mail advice at www.meine-verbraucherzentrale.de/DE-BB/emailberatung
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