Online shoppers are often exposed to fraudulent sellers, counterfeit products and transaction frauds while they navigate India’s booming e-commerce markets. However, e-commerce platforms are actively countering these challenges with their online safety measures. In this blog, we explore how you can keep yourself safe on online shopping platforms.
1. Only visit the real website of the online shopping platform
Always ensure that you are visiting the real website of shopping platforms such as Amazon, Meesho, Flipkart etc. Scammers might trick you to provide personal information by luring you into visiting websites that resemble these platforms very closely.
Fake websites can be difficult to identify. If you spot any such details, the website may be fake:
- Numerical addresses such as http://123.456.789.
- Misspellings or grammatical errors in the address. Legitimate Amazon websites, for instance, will contain ‘Amazon.in’ or ‘Amazon.in/support.’
- If a link takes you to a website outside of the Amazon website or to another app, it may be a scammer trying to steal your information. Do not click on suspicious links and do not buy products that are shown in a different website or page.
2 Ensuring that ratings are good and reviews are authentic
One easy way to ensure that you are buying a legitimate product is to look at its ratings and customer reviews. Products that have high ratings by several customers have a higher chance of being legitimate.
Platforms like Amazon have robust mechanisms to ensure the credibility of customer reviews of products. You can look for reviews that are labelled as a ‘Verified Purchase’- these reviews are from customers who have bought the product from Amazon itself.
However, it is always advisable to do your own research before buying any product and not depend entirely on user reviews which may be biased.
‘Verified purchase’ tag on Amazon
3. Check the seller and seller ratings
Another way to ensure that your product is authentic is to ensure that you are purchasing from a well rated seller. Look for products that are shipped by Amazon or the platform itself whenever possible- these products will be easier to return if required.
A product that is shipped and delivered by Amazon
Customers can also rate sellers and leave reviews about their experience. This can help you decide the seller’s authenticity and how they have dealt with customer issues. In case you see unbelievable prices or claims that are too good to be true on a product listing, you can look at the seller reviews to decide if the product is good.
Meesho’s seller ratings and review page
4. Things to remember when receiving your delivery
- Ensure that your delivery box/item has not been tampered with or damaged. If it has visible damages or your product is defunct, immediately contact the platform through the app or website. For example, on Amazon, go to ‘your orders’ section and click on the product that has the issue. You will be asked to upload an image for them to verify your claim, post which you may be able to return the product or get a refund.
Reporting an issue with a product on Amazon
- Amazon ships some products in tamper evident packaging which will indicate such packages have been tampered with. Such packages will have a unique code which the customer can verify along with sealing tapes that change colour in case of tampering.
Amazon’s label changes colour if tampered with by heat
- Some products on Amazon are also secured by OTPs, which need to be provided at the time of delivery. Always ensure that you provide the OTP to an authorised delivery agent at the time of delivery.
- Fake delivery agents: Scams involving fraudsters who pose as delivery agents are on the rise. If someone calls you and asks you to pay a certain amount to receive your delivery, they could be fraudsters. Only pay for your products through the website/app’s payment options, or if opting for COD, confirm that you are paying an authorised delivery partner at the time of delivery.
