We know, you’re excited about that ‘thing’ you’ve seen, but there’s a niggle of doubt. Trust your instincts!
Do a few more checks or you could lose your money. 

Scammers often use social media ads to lure you to fake sites. You usually realise there’s a problem when your goods don’t arrive or the site vanishes often days or weeks after purchase.

Even official sites can hide dubious links, injected into them by scammers.
You might not notice until after you’ve bought your goods, trusting the site you started on.
But, before adding anything to your basket, always check the web address to ensure it’s still the real deal. 

Be alert, scammers are smart and constantly find new ways to deceive us

Just for fun
Here is one well known, old, fake website address. We have deliberately made it obvious for you to see just how clever the scammers were by changing the fonts: citibank.com or citibank.com – be honest, did you spot the difference?  And, if you did (well done), would you be able to identify which one was the correct address at first glance?
For those who didn’t spot the difference this is the correct version citibank.com

Too good to be true? Probably!

Be sceptical of offers that seem too good to be true or time-sensitive deals (these often how a countdown clock next to them). Closing down stories are also a clever tactic. Scammers often lure victims with unbelievable offers.

Check and check again

Before parting with large sums of money, check the website address again. Is it still the same as you first used? When we navigate through websites we often pick up additional ‘strings’ to the web address i.e. marksandspencer.com will become marksandspencer.com/womensdresses/… (as an example). Be observant of small, minor spelling errors that may have changed. Scammers often inject bogus links into well known branded websites to collect the cash. Your goods never turn up but you think that you have paid a well established retailer the money.

Make sure you keep an eye on your bank account for unusual activity

Monitor Financial Accounts Regularly. Frequently check bank and credit card statements for unauthorised transactions. Set up alerts for unusual activity to catch fraud early.

Be cautious with links and attachments.
Avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from unknown or suspicious sources.

Real Reviews or photo’s of someone else’s reviews??

If you see links to review sites, always check them out independently preferably using a different device. Scammers often use photos of another business’ reviews on their site because they are reliant on you just trusting the review score. So, outsmart the scammers, make sure you read the text thoroughly on the reviews!