Christmas shoppers on high alert as scammers rake in millions

Online shoppers will be out in force in the coming weeks as they buy up big for Christmas, but they need to be wary of scams. Here’s how you can stay safe online.

Festive shoppers need to be extra cautious this Christmas after already losing more money this year to fraudsters than in 2018.

Alarming new figures released by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) showed so far this year shoppers have been left more than $4 million out of pockets.

This is well ahead of the total figure of $3.28 million that scammers stole in 2018.

As some of the busiest shopping discount days loom – Black Friday this week and Cyber Monday on December 2 – fraudsters will be out in force, trying to catch out unsuspecting consumers.

Shoppers should make sure they are only buying items from legitimate websites.

The ACCC’s deputy chair Delia Rickard has sent a strong message to anyone buying items online in the lead up to Christmas.

“Scammers often try to take advantage of people doing their Christmas shopping including in the upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales,” she said.

“Reported losses have tripled over the last three years and it is concerning that losses from this year are already so high.”

There has also been more than 8000 reports of online shopping scams this year.

One of the worst cases was a victim who lost $200,000 while trying to buy a Rolex watch.

Ms Rickard said some of the most successful scams including fraudsters selling footwear, devices and tickets to popular events.

“Some of the most commonly reported products that scammers are attempting to sell this year are shoes, smartphones and tickets to events, with losses from these far exceeding half a million dollars,” she said.

New ACCC figures showed that people losing the most money was those aged 25 to 44-years-old, they had over half the losses.

Men lost 56 per cent of the money, however women reported scams more frequently at (56 per cent).

There has also been more than 8000 reports of online shopping scams this year.

One of the worst cases was a victim who lost $200,000 while trying to buy a Rolex watch.

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The Australian Retailers Association’s executive director Russell Zimmerman urged people to “only deal with someone you know of”.

“Deal with a renowned website in Australia and you can’t go too far wrong,” he said.

“If you know the name of the business and it’s a well known Australian site you are covered under Australian consumer law and you are probably going to end up not being scammed.”

Mr Zimmerman said be extra careful around “sites that don’t look, feel and smell like a retailer that you think you know”.

“Make sure you are dealing with someone who is real and not fictitious,” he said.

Ms Rickard said some of the most obvious ways to detect a same was extremely low advertised prices and requests to pay through direct bank transfer or using cryptocurrency.

For anyone who believes they have fallen victim to a scam they should contact their financial institution as soon as possible.

They should also report the scam at Scamwatch.

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@sophieelsworth

Originally published as Christmas shoppers on high alert as scammers rake in millions