Festival Sales Are Here And So Are The Online Scams, How To Identify And Stay Safe

Not only Amazon and Flipkart but other major brands have also jumped the bandwagon of festive sales including Samsung, Apple, Oppo and more. And these sales are not going to stop anytime soon, with multiple festivals lined up in India like Navratri, Dussehra, and Diwali. Now, with the sales, the number of online scams are also increasing, and no one is safe from them. Scammers have a new trick up their sleeves, and every time they go for a new way of duping people. That being said, some of the scams are pretty common and still in practice. And identifying these scams, followed by spreading awareness around them, is not rocket science. With that sentiment, here we have listed down the most practiced online scams in the festive sales and how you

can stay safe from them.

Types Of Online Scams That Pick Pace In Festive Sales

Phishing Scams: These are the most common type of scams where the scammers send a malicious email, WhatsApp message, or an SMS to the victim pretending to be from a legit ecommerce platform. For example, a phishing scam may contain special offers and discounts that seem unbelievable with a link to grab the deal. And the moment you click on the link, your system will be compromised. OTP Related Scams: In this scam, the scammers pretend to be customer support of delivery agents and call people to tell them that there is an issue with the delivery. What follows is a web of stories to trap the customers and then finally ask for an OTP to validate payment. Now, by chance, if the victim shares the OTP, these scammers can use it to login to the former's account and steal data and even monetary assets.

Social Media 'Fake' Ads: Most of you would have seen the social media ads showing a very expensive product like an iPhone for peanut price. Now, those who are aware will not click, but most of the people will think that let's click and we'll close the site if it's fake. And if you by any chance make a purchase on these sites, your financial details will be compromised and you can lose more money than the transaction you just made as well.Lookalike Ecommerce Stores: Mohammad Faisal Ali Kawoosa, Founder at TechArc, told Times Now that the scammers also develop and deploy ecommerce stores and marketplaces lookalike websites. These ones feel legitimate but can steal the data of users once they purchase something out of it, along with losing the money.

Telecom Scams: Kawoosa also talked about telecom scams in which the scammers pretend to be from telecom operating firms and tell the users that the company is launching a new recharge for free, and they just need to fill in details and initiate a minute payment ranging between Rs 10 to Rs 50. These kind of scams are used to steal personal information of the users, along with the money, of course.

How To Identify An Online Scam?

There is no rulebook to identify online scams. But, yes, a little awareness could save you from getting duped. Here are some points that you can look out for to identify a scam:-Callers asking for OTP to validate payment or anything.-Unbelievable offers clubbed with suspicious links. -Popular ecommerce store lookalikes with a minutely altered URL.-Third party discount coupons that promise extraordinary price cuts.

How To Stay Safe From Online Scams?

-Using strong passwords for your ecommerce accounts is always a win.-No genuine executive will ever ask you to share an OTP to validate delivery or payment, so don't share OTPs. -Always verify the URL of ecommerce platforms if you want to stay safe from the duplicate ones.-If there is a call to tell you about a telecom offer, always double check in the dedicated app for recharge.