Has internet shopping fraud suddenly become much more sophisticated?

There seems to be an ever increasing number of believable, shockingly well organized and impressive looking retail sites that are actually outright scams. It used to be that these sites were only good enough to fool young children and sweet old ladies. In the past 2 years or so I've come across a shockingly large number of such sites. Luckily, I haven't been taken in by any of them... until recently that is. If it seems like I have a bug up my you-know-what about this issue, now you know why. I made the mistake of ordering from a site called Coastal Contacts, despite several red flags. It hasn't been long since I placed my order, so there is still a slim chance that I will get what I payed for, but others have not been so lucky. I urge you to look at their site, if only to see just how sophisticated these sites have become. What I've said doesn't even touch the sites that lie in the gray are between lazy and negligent business practices and outrigt fraud. Eshakti is the perfect example of a "gray area" business. I can only be thankful that I got cold feet before actually purchasing from them. Over the last year, Ive found myself checking the BBB acredditation of every other online business I come across. For the record, Eshakti's grade recently dropped to a C, and no, that does not mean they are average. Ughh... Tell me I'm exagerating this trend.

14 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Thanks for the heads up. Another reason why I am on Team Store.

TravellingTam

Active Member

I tried purchasing airline tickets from a company called E-Dreams. They wanted me to fax them copies of my passport to them before they would issue tickets. Uhhh, no way!

lynne

Veteran

Thanks for the heads up! I usually only buy from places I already know from their B&M stores because of fit and the fact that I don't like returning things by mail. I'm looking forward to reading others' comments perhaps mentioning other questionable sites.

biscuitsmom

I ordered from The Wild Lilac 3/2 and although they said the items were in stock, it would take 'a week or so' to ship. ok...3 weeks went by and nothing. I emailed them, they wrote back quickly saying there was 'a problem' with the quality of the dress....but it will ship in 'a day or two' then they 'were sent the wrong color'.....yesterday I actually received the package (the address was SO faint Im amazed it was delivered!) the dresses had the size and tags cut out, are smaller than they were supposed to be (but of course there are *NO* refunds!) So, I would stay FAR away from them!

Carole

Just a reminder, that if you use a Visa or Mastercard for purchases, you have some built in protection. You are not responsible for unauthorized or fraudulant charges and can dispute a charge if a merchant refuses to refund charges for justified reasons. I always use my Visa card with a feeling of security knowing this.

RoseandJoan

I really hope your parcel turn up, I'm all fired up today regarding privacy and the internet after receiving this email from one of the UK's largest online retailers M&S

'We have been informed by Epsilon, a company we use to send emails to our customers, that some M&S customer email addresses have been accessed without authorisation.

We would like to reassure you that the only information that may have been accessed is your name and email address. No other personal information, such as your account details, has been accessed or is at risk.

We wanted to bring this to your attention as it is possible that you may receive spam email messages as a result. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you. We take your privacy very seriously, and we will continue to work diligently to protect your personal information. '

I have stopped myself placing a few orders because the site looked slightly off, I always check for addresses and phone numbers, secure payment facilities but the likelihood is I will be stung at some point.

DanaLynn

I've never had any problems with E-shakti. The quality is about that of old navy's but I always get my items and normally within a few days despite the international shipping. Have you had bad experiences with them?

I feel for you though- the contact lenses place is really elaborate for a scam. That's eye opening!

Rose- I got the same email. Kroger ( agrocery chain) and Lane Bryant both used them. So they got my info twice! No spam yet though.

Didn't realize how punny I got there until I re-read it- contact lenses- eye opening! Hahahaha

KristineK

@RoseandJoan, the Epsilon thing appears to have been pretty far-reaching. I've received similar emails from at least four affected businesses with whom I'd done business in the past within the last week. One of them was Chase bank (which is huge!!).

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