Ripped off by a Webshop

Loes Knetsch ©

You have placed an order with a webshop. The order cost you 299 euros and since you have paid, the webshop no longer responds, phones are turned off and not answered. The building where they should be located is empty and the owner has a very strange surname. So you expect to be scammed. What can you do best after being scammed while shopping online? According to the bank, the payment cannot be reversed, but a solution has to be found here. Is it useful to file a report with the police? What to do if you get ripped off online?

Ripped off by a Webshop

In 99.9% of cases, you have lost the money, so I give some tips to check before you buy again something over the internet. To prevent you from experiencing such a scam again.

File a report with the police

Reporting to the police is always necessary, even though they seemingly can not do anything at the moment. It is quite possible that the perpetrator can be caught later by multiple declarations. Then, in any case, he will be imprisoned.

Check Domain Name Age

People who are eager to con you, set up a shop in no time, and then make it disappear again. I call those web shops “POPUP” shops. How can you recognize them and what to do before you make a deal?

I will put my own website through the checkup tool to show you the results.

My domain name, https://workathomefuture.com, this one, is bought through me 3 years ago, I created this website on Sep 17, 2014. So, as you can see, I bought an existing domain name. I didn’t know that when I bought this domain name back then. It was available. And those tools will not tell you the history of a domain name. Luckily, I had no negative experience.

Domain name age tool checker with history

With this domain name checker, you get instant information. It has an awesome little feature attached. History! You can check up the name server registration, the age of the website and the history. When Whois is used, it is often difficult to find the owner. But a trusted webshop shouldn’t be using Whois protection.

When you click on the history of the domain, you can see if the aged domain has been inactive for some years.

It will lead you to this checker Web Archive.com

Recognize a scammy “POPUP” webshop

The history of a popup scam website can look like this. Or will have just one recent stripe.

The history of a domain name

Why is it important to know if the domain name you want to buy has already a history?

The domain name can have a bad reputation
The domain name can be sandboxed by Google
It can be blocked for spam practices on Social Media platforms

Check the actual address

Look for the contact page on a website. Where is the webshop located? Go to Google maps and check up how the location looks like. Is it an existing address? Or do you find the shop on the 4th floor in a shady apartment building?

Check the phone number

When you order is above the $50 and you are not quite sure whether you can trust the webshop, pick up the phone and call them. Genuine webshops will answer the phone. New shops which are set up to con people will not answer the phone. It will cost you 50 cent to save $50 or even more.

Pay with your credit card

Most credit card companies assure you that in case of loss or theft of your package, you get your money back. When you give the bank the assignment with a bank transfer or Ideal, you will certainly lose your money.

Terms of Services

A trusted webshop has a solid business. Is there some legal stuff on the website? Privacy Policy, Terms of Service? Look if there is extra information in the footer.

Warning:

A warning is given especially to shops that offer goods for unrealistic prices.

The mutual relationship between affiliate marketers and webshops

A webshop has its own products and shipping. They cash the money directly from you. And affiliate partner website is an intermediary between you, the buyer, and the webshop. Affiliates are all, pretty certainly, connected with reputable webshops because they get a percentage of the sales price.

Surf and buy safely online

Now you can, in any case, protect yourself in the future. You know now how to do some basic check-ups whether the webshop is safe to buy from. Always be cautious and use these ways to avoid scams and rip-offs.