Detecting Fake Online Sellers

If there are Bogus Buyers, there is also a counterpart in the side of the sellers - the Fake Online Sellers. These are people who pretend to have the products on hand and get the payments and will disappear afterwards, block the buyer and look for another victim again. They are a scam, a big problem in the online selling world, they can be found anywhere, mostly in social media.

Let me give an example.

In Facebook, there is a Buy and Sell group for Planners and Planner Supplies. Then, there is a seller who sells her very nice planners and it is in a low price. So, there are planner enthusiasts that shows interests in the planners she is selling. Few days later, there is a post from one of the planner enthusiast telling that she was actually scammed by that seller, because after paying for the price of the planner, she was not contacted anymore and worst blocked her. Then she found out that the pictures used by the fake seller is actually stolen from the other sellers in other Facebook groups. Then, the other girls who are victims of the same Fake Seller also commented in the post, telling the same story. And it saddened the Planner community, even planners are used for this scam. So the admins really put a strict regulation that all sellers should first submit proof of identity before they can post an item in the Group.

Based on that experience and with some references I am sharing some of the ways on how a person can detect a Fake Online Seller.

• Very low prices, the price is too good to be true. If someone is selling trendy products and the price is low compared to the usual price, then one should think not just twice but many times on the legitimacy of the seller.

• Not a verified seller. In selling groups, if the seller is not a verified seller, you must be careful in engaging to him/her.

• For preloved items, pictures of the actual item is not shown properly. There are sellers who would sell preloved items, if they are not showing the actual picture of the item, or they are just showing the same pictures, one could ask for more details about the product and even additional pictures.

• Negative Feedbacks or no feedback of transactions. In Lazada or shoppee, e-commerce sites there is a feedback mechanism, so if the seller do not have feedbacks or have questionable feedbacks with same pictures posted, one should be doubtful on the legitimacy of the seller.

• An impatient seller. A seller that would always make follow-up of the payment, would nag you to pay immediately. But not all who make follow-up of payments are fake, they are really some who would like to make transactions fast. Just be vigilant.

• Questionable Social Media Accounts. The social media account is just created recently, or feedbacks posted are repeated all the while.

• Uses a different account/name for the payment. If the seller would give you an account name that is not the same to his/her name. You could ask for the reason, because there are those legit sellers also who do not have their bank accounts and they use others accounts.

So with that hints on how to detect fake online sellers, I hope that you will be vigilant in making online transactions and purchases.

CONCLUSION

Scammers are everywhere, scammers are also present in the online selling world, so before engaging in online transactions always be mindful, be vigilant, do your own research, don't be lured by the low prices and very nice pictures. When you know somebody doing a scam, report him or her so that others would know that dealing with that person is not safe at all.

And that's it ladies and gentlemen. I really like the transitions of the topics I have for you this week because they are all relevant to online selling. So if you would like to read my previous articles about online selling here are those:

Live Selling : Trend in Online Selling

Confessions of an Avid "Miner"

Bogus Buyers / Joy Reservers : Problems in Online Selling

So do you have experiences of being scammed by fake online sellers? I would like to know your experience so that we can give awareness to others too. Have a great day to all.

Reference:

How To Spot A Fake Online Seller. Some of the points are based on this article.

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