For example, bicycles and e-bikes were offered at very reasonable prices on the website fahrrad-handels.de. However, anyone who checked the information in the imprint could quickly find out that something was wrong with this shop. No one could be reached at the number provided and no one responded to email inquiries.
Fake shops are difficult to recognize at first glance, as the consumer advice center and the State Criminal Police Office point out. The websites are professionally designed and contain a lot of information such as legal notice, general terms and conditions and contact options. However, the information should be checked carefully before placing an order. The consumer advice center and the Rhineland-Palatinate State Criminal Police Office give tips on how to protect yourself from financial damage when shopping online.
Check domain:
Before you take a closer look at the offer on the website, you should take a look at the address bar. Especially with fake shops, the name of the domain does not match the offers displayed on the site. There should also be a lock icon in the address bar. If such a symbol is not present, no further attention should be paid to the shop.
Never pay in advance:
On the questionable sites, various payment methods are usually offered right up to the last ordering step. When the order is completed, payment in advance is only possible. This is by far the worst payment method because the purchase price has to be transferred in advance and ultimately no goods arrive. Even if the price is unbeatably low and you don't want to miss out on the offer, you should never order in advance.
Check information in the legal notice:
If there is no imprint at all in an online shop, you should definitely not order there. But even pages with an imprint should not be trusted blindly. The information provided there should be checked. You can usually quickly find out using an internet search engine that something is wrong with the address given, either because the address does not exist or because another company has its registered office at this address.
Customer reviews:
Under no circumstances should you allow yourself to be influenced by customer reviews on the website. These are anything but meaningful, as they were usually written by the criminals themselves and placed on the site. It is better to check the shop name using an internet search engine. If the shop has already attracted negative attention or has even cheated other consumers, you can find information about this online. Seals of quality are also no guarantee of the seriousness of a shop. Only if the seals can actually be clicked on and lead to a certificate from the seal issuer can they be assumed to be authentic.
Further information can be found at:
- https://www.verbraucherzentrale-rlp.de/onlineshopping
- www.verbraucherzentrale-rlp.de/kostenfallen
- https://www.polizei-beratung.de/themen-und-tipps/fähren-im-internet/e-commerce/
Source: Rhineland-Palatinate State Criminal Police Office
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