How to Avoid Scams When Shopping Online

December 23, 2020

6

Intermediate

Economy & Business

Exercise 1
Vocabulary
scam
Noun
skæm
an illegal or dishonest plan or activity for making money
Don't invest your money in that. It's a scam.
pretend
Verb
prɪˈtɛnd
to act as if something is true when you know it is not
The children pretended that they were pirates.

fake
Adjective
feɪk
not real or genuine
This jacket is made of fake fur.

ad
Noun
æd
something that tells people about a product, service, or job opening
I looked through the job ads in the newspaper today.
 review
Noun
rɪˈvjuː
a piece of writing in which someone shares their opinion of something
He left a negative review on the website.

Exercise 2
Article
How to Avoid Scams When Shopping Online
Online shopping scams are becoming more common as more people are
shopping on the internet during the pandemic.

Many scam websites pretend to sell things such as technology, toys and
cleaning products. Fake ads are often posted on social media to get people to
visit the site. But when people buy a product, it never arrives and they lose
their money.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said it received a record number of

reports from people losing money to online shopping scams in April and
May. So far in 2020, the FTC has received more than 37,000 reports of online
shopping scams.

Here is some advice on how to avoid getting scammed:

Find out more about the site

Do an online search of the company's name along with the words "scam" or
"review." You can also look up the site on social media to see what other
customers have said.

Be careful with hard-to-find products

Some fake shopping sites say they have products that are not available
anywhere else. For example, scammers will sometimes try to sell hard-to-find
video game consoles or toys during the holidays.

Cheaper prices aren't always the best

Be careful of products that seem very cheap, as fake sites often offer lower
prices on popular products. As the saying goes, "if it seems too good to be
true, it probably is."

If you are scammed...

Call your credit card company and try to get your money back.  You can also
report the site, which could help others from being scammed.