Shopping online during Black Friday can provide some incredible deals - but it also leaves people vulnerable to scammers looking to take advantage.
Scammers have been out in force in recent months with numerous warnings from Government as well as the gardai on what people should look out for so as to not fall victim.
Ahead of the Christmas shopping period, a garda spokesman previously told Dublin Live: “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.
“In the lead up to Christmas and in particular the Black Friday sales promotion period, consumers and eCommerce merchants will be particularly active online and with this in mind, An Garda Siochana and Europol advise consumers and online retailers to adhere to online shopping fraud prevention tips.”
And Revolut has taken the step to issue advice to its customers on how to best avoid falling victim to scammers when hunting for that killer deal.
Here are some top tips on how to shop online safely:
Be weary of “too good to be true” offers.
Use reliable websites that you trust. A website's URL should start with https and not http. It’s also important that you look for a padlock icon before the website name.
Never give out PINs, passwords, one time passcodes, personal details over the phone or online chat.
Read online reviews to make sure the sellers are genuine.
Only purchase branded items from their official website.
Always Google websites rather than following links from email or social media.
Always log out or sign out of websites.
Be aware that fraudsters may ask you to pay via bank transfer rather than a card payment.
If you get a message from Revolut saying the payee doesn’t match, stop the transaction and look into it.
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