Crime Prevention

This month on Crimecall Sergeant Kavanagh was promoting the golden rules of online shopping.

In the lead up to Christmas and in particular the Black Friday sales promotion period An Garda Síochána are supporting Europol’s online fraud prevention campaign which encourages safe online shopping by customers and provides fraud prevention advice to online retailers / eCommerce businesses. 

https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services/public-awareness-and-prevention-guides/e-commerce-tips-and-advice-to-avoid-becoming-fraud-victim

More and more businesses are using the internet as the primary channel to sell goods and services. Whilst convenient for both the consumer and retailer it also presents opportunities for fraudsters who can use the anonymous nature of the internet to rip off consumers or target retailers who do not have the necessary defences in place to protect themselves.

There was a total of €22 million in credit and debit cards fraud losses on Irish consumers in 2020, according to the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).

Consumers and eCommerce merchants will be particularly active online over the next few weeks and An Garda Síochána and Europol advise consumers and online retailers to adhere to the following online shopping fraud prevention tips: 

For the online shopper:

The Golden Rules of Online Shopping

• Understand risks involved - do some research – use brands and shops that are familiar to you
• Check to ensure the website is genuine - type the address yourself and check the spelling
• Check the seller’s reviews and ratings
• Be careful how you pay – always use the websites recommended payment site – if none, use credit cards when purchasing as most cards have strong customer protection policy
• Save all documents related to online purchases
• If you don’t make a purchase, don’t leave identity or card details behind
• Never send card details by email, text or other messaging methods
• Don’t send money to someone you don’t know – check first 

For the Online Retailer / eCommerce Merchant: 

• Know your product –
  • Some products are riskier than others i.e. easily resalable small items may present a higher fraud risk
• Know your customer –
  • If you accept card payments for high value goods you would really want to know who you are selling to – wouldn’t you?   
• Establish a safe means of payment –
  • Your card processor can advise when choosing a safe means of payment
• Use a reliable delivery service –
  • Use a delivery service which you can be assured will offer professional handling of your merchandise