Area residents who do take part in online shopping should be aware of common scams and frauds most commonly associated with buying items from any number of websites and take appropriate precautions.
And that is particularly the case during the Christmas shopping season, says the Houston RCMP detachment.
“Not every online shopping venue has consumers’ best interests in mind,” said Corporal Ryan Filmore, the detachment’s officer in charge.
And finding gifts advertised online at seemingly attractive prices can sometimes cloud judgement, he said.
So here are some online shopping tips from the RCMP.
* Watch out for deals that are “too good to be true”. If the prince is considerably lower than anywhere else, this is a good indication it’s not a real website.
* Complicated or unfamiliar payment options. If you don’t recognize the payment page, or it’s overly complicated, consumers should be wary.
* Sites with poor grammar or layouts. Most stores spend a lot of time and money making your shopping experience easy to navigate and understand. Spoof sites don’t have the same standards.
* No padlock symbol in the URL bar. Check for a padlock symbol in the web address bar. If there isn’t one or if it’s there but not locked, this is an indication the website’s information is not secure.
The Get Cyber Safe and Canadian-Anti Fraud websites offer Canadians important information and tools to stay cyber safe in all aspects of their lives.
That’s why the RCMP suggest visiting the sites to learn more about available resources and to learn more about protection from holiday scam and fraud pages.