This is an excellent guide to safe shopping and scam avoidance, published by a friend of mine.
Before buying a product online, take time to check out the seller and the product. Even the most legitimate-looking websites can be fake so do your homework first.
Look for all the names, addresses and phone numbers associated with the website. The website name, the company name and the seller name can all be different. Beware if none of this information is available.
Can you find addresses for the seller? A seller might use several addresses – registered address, VAT, trading, website, check them all out. Are there other ‘sellers’ at the same address?
Search tip: Put phrases in “double quotes” to get an exact match. Works on Google but not all sites.
Removing the double quotes might also bring up some interesting results.
Here are a few sites you can use to check before you buy:
Search for businesses and peopleCompanies HouseAddresses don’t work too well but single words do. There is now a search for officers by location that sort of works for other search terms e.g. John Smith location:”High Street, London”.
Google Main Search engineTrust PilotWhat you find is not necessarily the truth but can be a good indicator.
In the case of product reviews:
Many reviews are fake – a sure sign that something is amiss. To safeguard yourself:
Look to see what other reviews the reviewer has left.
Take more notice of bad reviews that often give further information on the seller or the product.
Check VAT numbershttp://www.vatcheck.eu/Look up addresses Check the timeline to see how the building or area has changed. Scammers often use an address of a vacant building or one that has just been knocked down.
Google MapsGet Mapping (limited but different timelines for free)
Search phone numbersPut number in double quotes to move spaces around e.g.
“01234 567 890”
“+44 1234 567890”
Search product imagesGoogle's reverse image searchReverse images (flip horizontally) and search again.
How long has the seller been trading?Amazon and ebay both show this info. If the seller is new, be very careful.
Ask the seller a question just to get a reply. This could be just asking the weight or dimensions of the product.
Search the reply email address.
Search selected text in “double quotes” from advert or reviews: e.g. “left-handed screwdriver”
https://www.google.co.ukSearch products on foreign eBay/Amazon sitesPut part of the description in double quotes “like this” with e.g. amazon.de or ebay.ca
Google translator (Chinese names & addresses can have interesting results)
FacebookIt is almost impossible to check out sellers thoroughly especially with so many scammers on Facebook selling products that look to good to be true. My advice would be to only buy locally and arrange to meet the seller where you can examine the product and exchange product and cash in person.
Website CheckersI don’t know very much about the following websites but Kaspersky rates them as safe. A good rating might mean they haven’t been found out yet especially if they are fairly new.
Check the safety of a website or email.
No unsafe content found is only one indicator and should not be trusted on its own.
Google's website checker Useful for checking potential scamsRemember: to find an exact match of any phrase, enclose that phrase in inverted commas before trying.