NCC warns South Africans about rising online shopping fraud
The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has sounded the alarm on a growing online shopping scam
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The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has sounded the alarm on a growing online shopping scam, revealing that it has identified 38 more suppliers who took consumers’ money and then vanished without delivering goods or services.
In a press release on Monday, the consumer watchdog said the suppliers operated across Gauteng, North West, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, and could not be traced after receiving payment from consumers.
"In most cases, the suppliers are nowhere to be found, having disappeared from their known addresses or shut down their websites, leaving consumers with no means to seek redress. Complaints received by the NCC indicate that consumers are unable to reach these suppliers, and the NCC’s attempts to trace these suppliers have been unsuccessful," the watchdog said.
The watchdog also said preliminary assessments indicate that some online suppliers are impersonating legitimate businesses with the explicit intention to defraud consumers, adding that in other cases, suppliers deliberately withhold contact details or physical addresses.
"Preliminary assessments indicate that some online suppliers are impersonating other legitimate suppliers with the intention to defraud consumers, while other suppliers do not provide contact details or addresses, making it impossible for consumers to reach and return defective or incorrect orders".
The NCC added that it "views this conduct as a deliberate ploy by unscrupulous suppliers to rob consumers of their hard-earned money and ultimately evade accountability"
"e-Commerce has become an easy money-making platform for scammers. Consumers transacting online are urged to use the services of the South African Fraud Prevention Services by visiting www.yima.org.za to ensure that they are transacting with legitimate online suppliers".
"They can also use the Yima platform to report any suspicious or fraudulent online suppliers. The NCC has to date flagged 95 (ninety-five) untraceable suppliers".
mthobisi.nozulela@iol.co.za
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