{"id":288432,"date":"2020-12-01T15:48:18","date_gmt":"2020-12-01T05:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=288432"},"modified":"2020-12-07T12:37:15","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T02:37:15","slug":"shoppers-warned-to-avoid-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2020\/12\/01\/shoppers-warned-to-avoid-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"Shoppers Warned To Avoid Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"

December 1, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

Police are warning shoppers to beware of\u00a0online scams in the lead-up to Christmas.<\/p>\n

The Financial and Cyber Crime Group said scammers often set up fake online stores and social media pages, claiming to sell popular items at incredibly low prices.<\/p>\n

“If a product\u2019s advertised price seems too good to be true, there\u2019s a very good chance it is.”<\/p>\n

Other tell-tale signs of an online scam include a website with minimal information about delivery, returns or contact details, and requests to pay via unsecure and unusual methods.<\/p>\n

Detective Inspector Vince Byrnes said scammers often set up a fake online store to trick shoppers into buying stock they don\u2019t have.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is best to use online retailers or brands that you are aware of, trust and that offer buyer protections,\u201d Det Insp Byrnes said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve said it before and we\u2019ll say it again and again: be very wary of shopping websites that don\u2019t use secure payment methods and offer big discounts for direct payment into accounts.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd please, never pay anything via cryptocurrency.”<\/p>\n