It often happens that people are scammed on the internet and the techniques are becoming more and more sophisticated. You too can be a victim. Do you want to shop safely online? With a little common sense and the tips from this article, you can go a long way.
Tip 01: Common sense
We start this article with a tip that always feels like a clincher, but without this first tip, all other tips are worthless. When you shop online, common sense is the most important tool. When you know that an iPhone11 in new condition should cost more than 700 euros, a new iPhone 11 offered for 500 euros should ring the alarm bells. Offers of a few tens lower are realistic, offers of a few hundred euros lower are not, unless it is on days like Black Friday (but even then there are not really stunted prices for an A-brand like an iPhone). Remember that criminals play on emotions like haste and greed, so when something is extremely cheap and you are forced to make a quick decision, it’s usually not a good sign. In short, when an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. With emphasis on probably, because of course you can be lucky.
Tip 02: Certificate
In this article, we mainly focus on scammers who don’t deliver what they promise. But we also want to give a tip to situations where you think you are on a certain site, when in reality you are not. Where banks used to be very reasonable when reimbursing phishing scams, more and more banks are of the opinion that as a consumer you should now be aware of the dangers and that you should use common sense in online activities (see tip 1 ). First, make sure you have antivirus software running to prevent malicious software on your computer from redirecting you to another site. Second, it is important to check that you are actually on the site you think you are visiting. You can check this by looking at the lock in the address bar and whether you see a green color. Click on the lock for more information about safety. Please note this does not mean that there is no scammer behind the site itself, it just means that you are actually on that site. You can read from our colleagues how you can get a lock on your own website PCM.
Not sure about an offer? Ask a question about this on Facebook, which often leads to good tips
Tip 03: Old-fashioned homework
Now suppose you land on a site with an offer you are unsure about. Or on a site that has a fairly normal offer in itself, but that has a strange design and is full of English terms (the latter we see more and more often with sites that are simply reliable, but where the foreign owner puts little energy into a correct translation). Doing your homework the old-fashioned way can help you with these kinds of doubts. Go through Google to find the origin of the business, see if it is registered with the Chamber of Commerce, and search for the name of the store in combination with scam, scam, not delivered, i.e. in combination with terms that you would use to complain if you were cheated. Also check if the sites has reviews on an independent party like Trustpilot.com. If you don’t find anything negative at all, that’s a good sign. Still in doubt? Then just post a question on Facebook if someone has experience with this company, which often leads to good tips.
Tip 04: Quality mark
A store that is not reliable at all will probably not be affiliated with the Thuiswinkel Waarborg. However, that does not mean that a site that has the logo of the Thuiswinkel Waarborg on the site is also immediately reliable. Some sites simply place the logo and are not affiliated with the organization at all. You can easily check that by going to www.thuiswinkel.org and click on it Member list. You can then search the entire membership database and you will find an overview with warnings from companies that currently do not comply with the rules or use the logo of the Thuiswinkel Waarborg incorrectly. By the way, it is not the case that shops that are members of the Thuiswinkel Waarborg cannot go bankrupt or that you are insured against your loss if that happens, but the chance that they are scammers is virtually nil, because otherwise they would not have passed the certification process. .
Tip 05: Comparison sites
Another great way to search for the best price while minimizing the risk of scams is to use comparison sites. Google has a built-in comparison function that you activate by clicking Shopping when you search for a particular product. However, the number of sites included in this list is limited. Another option is a site like www.kieskeurig.nl. Not only will you find an overview of shops where the product you are looking for is priced at the best price via this site, Kieskeurig also has strict conditions. For example, a store must be registered with the Chamber of Commerce for at least a year, be active for at least six months and comply with the Distance Selling Act. In addition, the site regularly carries out test orders based on signals that something is wrong. All this is of course no guarantee to go blindly on an offer (always keep tip 1 in mind), but it is an extra reassurance.
Not all products that you see on Bol.com are actually sold by Bol.com
Tip 06: Bol.com
As a tip, we could suggest that buying on major party sites like www.bol.com is a guarantee for safe buying. This is partly of course the case, were it not that a site like Bol.com also frequently uses external sellers. Not all products that you see on Bol.com are actually sold by Bol.com. Theoretically Bol.com is not obliged to reimburse the amount if the product is not delivered by an external seller, but fortunately the company often does. It’s a hassle, though, so it’s worth checking who you’re buying from. You can see that by looking at the product at the cup Sell ​​by. If you click on the name of the seller, you will get detailed information about how the seller is performing. If there are many complaints, the seller’s score will be low, and buying from this seller is probably not that convenient.
Tip 07: Marketplace
Buying products via Marktplaats (or another auction site) is of course a completely different story. You often have to deal with other consumers there, and it is not the case that Marktplaats will refund you the amount if a buyer does not deliver what he promises. You can demand to deliver first and then pay, but few people will accept that. It is therefore very important to look at how long someone has been active on Marktplaats. In addition, it is a good sign if the person’s phone number and bank account have been checked (this is also indicated by the profile name). Someone who has been active on Marktplaats for five years and has had the aforementioned matters checked will know better than to scam you. In addition, Marktplaats has recently started the function Equal Crossing. With this service you pay and the money is held by Marktplaats. As soon as the buyer confirms receipt of the package (by means of a track & trace code), the money is released to the seller. This way, both parties are not at risk.
No matter how cheap something is abroad, don’t forget to take import duties into account
Tip 08: Abroad
The tips we have mentioned mainly relate to buying products in the Netherlands. When you go shopping online outside our borders, it partly becomes a different story. Thuiswinkel Waarborg is of little use and sites like Kieskeurig are of little use either. Tip 1 remains in full force, however, as do tips 2 and 3. The safest thing to do abroad is to focus on large sites such as Amazon (also consider external sellers) and AliExpress (although we are actually not a fan of the latter site because of massive ignoring of copyrights). Buying through a platform like Etsy is also a good idea, because it also offers an extra layer of (your) security. Whatever you do, if the security certificates are in order, make sure to complete the purchase with PayPal or your credit card. Paying through these methods offers you extra protection and insurance. With credit cards, this varies per company, but with PayPal you are protected against non-delivery of a product, because the seller simply has an agreement with PayPal in which his obligations are regulated.
Tip 09: Import costs
It is of course super attractive to place an order on AliExpress or Wish because the prices there are ridiculously low. However, you should definitely take into account the fact that we know something like import duties in the Netherlands. When you place an order for a number of products above a certain amount, you simply have to pay tax on this. That may seem annoying, but it is mainly to protect the companies in our own country against unfair competition. You will find a full list of amounts here, but to give you an idea: you usually do not pay import duties within the EU, only VAT to the selling party. Outside the EU, you do not have to pay import duties up to 22 euros. If your order exceeds this amount, you will owe customs VAT. If the amount exceeds 150 euros, you will also owe import duties in addition to VAT. This can be quite expensive, so think before you start.
Tip 10: Ripped off after all?
As we have stated before, 100 percent security is not possible. You really don’t have to worry when you buy from well-known stores, but it can of course happen that you place an order at a lesser known store and that despite all precautions it turns out to be a scammer. The bad thing is that there is very little chance that you will see your money back. However, little chance does not mean no chance, and we recommend that, however daunting it may seem, you always report it to the police. Even if you don’t get your money back, it’s a nice idea that you can save others from making the same mistake. In addition, there is always a small chance that the police can do something for you. If you do not file a declaration, then you can be sure that you will never see a cent back.
On the website Victim Support Netherlands provides a step-by-step plan for almost every form of fraud. You can then indicate what you have become a victim of and then you will be shown which steps you can take to, for example, get your money back.
